Counter-terror report falsely claims there have been no recent far-right attacks in UK

Officials have failed to correct a false claim in a major counter-terrorism report that there have been no far-right attacks in recent years.

The Independent Review of Prevent concluded that the intervention scheme should be “recalibrated” to focus more on Islamists, rather than other ideologies that currently take up a greater portion of its work.

But the report’s core conclusions omitted two far-right terror attacks carried out by men who stated their aim to kill Muslims, which were both formally declared by police and the security services.

In his foreword to the report, reviewer William Shawcross wrote that Prevent should “address all extremist ideologies proportionately according to the threat each represents.

“Since this review was commissioned in 2019, six terrorist attacks have blighted our nation,” he claimed. “All these attacks were Islamist in nature.”

But there have been eight attacks in the period, and counter-terror police have only confirmed five as motivated by jihadism.

Suella Braverman welcomed the report, saying that she would ensure Prevent “focuses on the key threat of Islamist terrorism”.

“This independent review has identified areas where real reform is required,” the home secretary added.

“I wholeheartedly accept all recommendations and am committed to quickly delivering wholesale change.”

The review team has not responded to The Independent’s questions on the error and the Home Office - which accepted all 34 of Mr Shawcross’ recommendations - said it could not alter the report.

A spokesperson would not explain why the omission was not corrected during several rounds of editing and fact-checking, which delayed the report after Mr Shawcross sent a first draft to the government last April.

In March 2019, a white supremacist inspired by the Christchurch mosque shootings launched a violent rampage in the Surrey town of Stanwell, while shouting “all Muslims should die, white supremacists rule”.

Vincent Fuller attacked cars with non-white drivers and stabbed a Bulgarian teenager in the mistaken belief that he was a Muslim.

Counter-terror police declared the rampage a terror attack the following day, and the judge who later jailed Fuller said he had perpetrated a “terrorist act” motivated by white supremacy and anti-Muslim hatred.

In October last year, another far-right terror attack was declared after a man firebombed a processing centre for small boat migrants in Dover.

Andrew Leak, who killed himself minutes later, had written online that he wanted to “obliterate Muslim children”.

Mr Shawcross also counted the 2021 Liverpool Women’s Hospital bombing as an Islamist terror attack, but investigators have never publicly confirmed Emad al-Swealmeen’s motivation and The Independent understands that there was not sufficient mindset evidence for a formal determination to be made.

The Prevent review, commissioned over four years ago, was boycotted by major charities including Amnesty UK over previous comments where Mr Shawcross called “Europe and Islam one of the greatest, most terrifying problems of our future”.

Mr Shawcross also serves as the government’s Commissioner for Public Appointments and his daughter is the head of Downing Street’s policy unit.

Critics raised concerns that a forced focus on Islamism could make Britain “less safe”, following warnings from the director-general of MI5 that threats to the UK were “evolving”.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said the report would “make it harder for counter-terror police to do their job”.

“Counter-terror police and experts need to be able to follow the evidence on all kinds of terrorist and extremist threats, including Islamist, far right and other new and growing threats,” she added. “It is counterproductive to try and create a hierarchy of extremism.”

Responding to the report, the Counter Terrorism Policing lead for Prevent Detective Chief Superintendent Maria Lovegrove, said: “The terrorist threats we face now are very different to when Prevent began, and a strong collective approach is absolutely vital if we are to keep up with this changing landscape and its growing dimensions.”