New anti-terror legislation will not include disruptive protest, says No 10

An overhaul of laws on terrorism after the Southport murders will not expand the definition to take in disruptive but non-violent protest, Downing Street has said, as MPs and senior lawyers warned about potential risks to the plan.

- Peter Walker Haroon Siddique Vikram Dodd

Keir Starmer announced the review, to be led by Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism laws, after Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to stabbing to death Bebe King, six, Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, in July.

Rudakubana, who was referred three times to the Prevent anti-radicalisation programme from the age of 13, also pleaded guilty to possessing terrorist material and producing the toxin ricin, but the murders were not treated as terror killings.

Starmer said the law should be updated to take into account the increased prevalence of solitary attackers who plot mass killings but are not seemingly motivated by a political or religious ideology.

Some MPs have expressed worry that previous efforts to expand the remit of terror rules have ended up with consequences for civil liberties. But Downing Street said yesterday the intention was to tackle "extreme violence clearly intended to terrorise".

Asked if Hall's review could look at wider examples, such as protests that are disruptive but peaceful, Starmer's spokesperson said the remit had yet to be fixed. But a No 10 source said such protests would not be considered.