Most arrested terror suspects are white

Thomas Mair, the killer of Jo Cox MP

White people make up the largest proportion of arrested terrorism suspects.

There were 351 arrests for terrorism-related activity in the year ending June 30, Home Office statistics show. 

The proportion of suspects recorded as white by the arresting officer increased by four percentage points to 38% in the period, while those deemed to be from an Asian background fell by seven percentage points to 37%. The proportion recorded as black fell by two points to 9%.

A total of 100 people were brought to trial in England and Wales in the year ending 30 June 2018, up 39% on the previous year. Of those, 90 were convicted.

There are now 218 persons in custody in Britain for terrorism-related offences. Of those in custody, 82% are categorised as holding “Islamist extremist views,” a further 13% as holding far-right ideologies and 6% other ideologies.

Counter-terror police senior national co-ordinator, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, said: “We may have seen a reduction in the number of arrests in the last 12 months, but we should put that in context by saying that we prevented 13 Islamist-related and four extreme right-wing plots since March 2017, so it certainly doesn’t indicate a reduction in the threat we all face from terrorism.

“The step-change in terrorist activity is matched only by an increased effort from police and security services, and our officers are working incredibly hard to protect the public and to bring people to justice, which is evidenced by the impressive conviction rate achieved in the last year.”

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