Authorities plan to introduce a new criminal offence aimed at apprehending violence-oriented individuals lacking a specific ideology, to bridge a legal gap identified by Yvette Cooper following the Southport attack. Currently, terrorism laws allow for life sentences, even without fully formed plans, primarily tied to ideological motivations. Cooper indicated that growing online radicalization among teenagers poses a significant threat. The new measures will permit police to proactively manage individuals who might carry out mass attacks, reflecting concerns that preventive approaches previously failed, as exemplified by the Rudakubana case.
Yvette Cooper stated that there is a gap in the law around the planning of mass attacks, which can have devastating implications for communities and impact as seriously as terrorism.
Police will be empowered to prevent individuals who do not have a clear ideology from committing mass attacks, paralleling the authority they have over terrorism suspects.
The Prevent anti-terrorism scheme declined to intervene in Axel Rudakubana's case, despite teachers raising concerns about him on three occasions from 2019 to 2021.
Cooper emphasized the rising trend of teenagers radicalizing themselves online, amidst exposure to distorted extremist material in their personal environments.
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