Met fears British terrorist attack

THE threat of a terror attack in the UK is rising as more people are being radicalised and "thinking about" committing the crime, Britain's most senior police officer has warned.

- Michael Knowles

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said yesterday he was "concerned" about how extremists were reacting to events in the Middle East.

He revealed more terrorist propaganda was being published online, with growing numbers of suspected extremists being referred to the Government's deradicalisation programme, Prevent.

Detectives fear extremists could be inspired by events, such as the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, to commit atrocities, with lone-wolf terrorists posing a particular threat as they often slip under the radar.

Sir Mark said: "We're seeing more intelligence leads suggesting people have been radicalised and [are] thinking about terrorism." He added there has been a rise in the number of investigations being carried out by counterterrorism teams into "potential terrorist propaganda" online that could be linked to the UK.

Sir Mark said: "Several hundred folks have come in over recent months.

"It hasn't justified yet a rising of the threat level, wanting but we are concerned about it.

"And those teams are dealing with both that and also...the threat from hostile states, which links into this because of countries like Iran." He added: "We're seeing increased numbers of referrals into Prevent." MI5 has warned that while Islamic State previously prompted terror attacks in the UK, more recently "the trend has been towards self-initiated terrorists largely fuelled online".

One counter-terrorism detective told the Daily Express Islamist extremists consider Israel a "unifying element".

He also warned the war in Gaza would "inevitably drive more, previously ambivalent, folks into wanting to take action against Jewish interests".