Britain’s internal security service, MI5, currently holds information on around 20,000 people who are, or have been, under investigation for having extremist sympathies Sajid Javid highlighted the increased threat from far-right groups, which he said had much in common LONDON: British security services are to share secret information on suspect individuals with local police forces, municipal authorities and even charities in an effort to crush potential terror threats more quickly. Businesses, including major retailers such as Amazon, will also have to report “suspicious” purchases to the police and intelligence agencies. The measures are part of the British government’s proposed new strategy for preventing terror attacks. They were announced on Monday by Sajid Javid, Britain’s first Home Secretary (interior minister) from a Muslim background, in his first major speech on security since taking over the Home Office at the end of April. Britain’s internal security service, MI5, currently holds information on around 20,000 people who are, or have been, under investigation for having extremist sympathies. Sharing such classified information with the police — let alone civilian organizations — is almost unprecedented and has already prompted warnings about turning local councils into “unwilling and untrained agents of the security services.” But speaking the day after the first anniversary of the attack on London Bridge, Javid said there had been a “step change” in the terror threat against Britain since last year. Twelve terror plots by militant Islamists have been foiled since March alone. MI5 and the police are monitoring about 3,000 “subjects of interest” at any one time and have also warned that the terrorist threat will remain high for at least a further two years. Retailers will be compelled to alert the police if they suspect someone is buying materials that could be used to carry out an atrocity, such as large quantities of chemicals. The move follows the revelation that suicide bomber Salman Abedi, the man responsible for the attack at the Ariana Grande concert which killed 22 people in Manchester a year ago, had bought all he needed on Amazon. He did not even feel the need to deflect suspicion by having the materials delivered to different addresses but used the same one every time. The Home Secretary also called for more co-operation from companies such as Facebook and Google in tackling extremist content. “I’m committed to improving how we work with businesses across a range of issues,” said Javid. He said he fully supported Prevent, the government’s program to avert people — especially the young and vulnerable — away from radicalization and descent into terrorism. The scheme has been described as “badly flawed” by human rights groups and even the special rapporteur for the United Nations. But Javid said the misapprehensions about Prevent were unjustified. “We have a moral and social obligation to protect and support vulnerable people from the twisted propaganda of those seeking to radicalize them, and Prevent is about doing just that,” he said. The intelligence-sharing plan will be tried out in London, the Greater Manchester area in northwest England and the West Midlands area of central England, including Birmingham, which has a large Muslim population. Javid also highlighted the increased threat from far-right groups, which he said had much in common with Islamist extremists. “Daesh and the extreme right wing are more similar than they might like to think,” he said. “They both exploit grievances, distort the truth and undermine the values that hold us together.” A factor in the current heightened threat assessment is the fact that more than 80 people currently in prison for terrorist offenses will be back out on the streets by the end of the year, having served their sentence. That number could be even higher as it is common for prisoners to serve only half their given sentence if they behave themselves while in jail. Dr Samantha Newbery, lecturer in contemporary intelligence studies at the University of Salford, said sharing intelligence was a good idea but there were concerns about how to keep such intelligence secure. “The more you share information, the more it is likely to be leaked and the source of that intellligence will be known and therefore compromised,” she said. “There are questions too about how much responsibility is placed on private individuals and organizations to be vigilant. Prevent was introduced in 2015 and people are still being trained in what to look for and how to comply, and there have been some bad mistakes. There was a case of one NHS trust reporting someone simply for watching Arabic language television. “So expecting ordinary private people to know what to do with this shared intelligence is quite a big ask, frankly.” But she said the plan was still worth pursuing. “MI5 will naturally be reluctant and sharing will never be complete. Nor will there be a way of ever knowing how complete the intelligence is. But the idea is still worthwhile.”