An Independent Commission on UK Counter-Terrorism Law, Policy and Practice was set up to assess whether the UK’s counter-terrorism framework remains effective, proportionate consistent with democratic principles and able to meet the changing nature of the terrorist threats the UK faces. From 2022 to 2025, some 200 practitioners, policymakers, academics, parliamentarians, and representatives from civil society contributed evidence.
Its 300-page report notes that terror attacks at Fishmongers’ Hall (2019, pictured), Streatham (2020), and Reading (2020) ‘exposed weaknesses in information-sharing and risk assessment’, while the attack on prison staff at HM Prison Whitemoor (2020) highlighted the threat of radicalisation within prisons. As of June 2025, 257 people were in custody for terrorism-related offences, with an additional 250 assessed as posing a terrorism risk. Of the 678 people sentenced for terrorism-related offences since 2010, most have already been released or will be before 2035, as three-quarters received custodial terms of under ten years. For community safety, the Commission suggests ‘a balanced approach’ that maintains control while supporting structured reintegration pathways, including tailored support for women offenders. The report describes the UK approach to nationals and former nationals detained in Syrian camps as ‘increasingly untenable’.
As for digital tech – the report noting that many terrorists are radicalised online – the report points to generative artificial intelligence and 3D-printed weapons, as presenting evolving risks. The passing of the Online Safety Act 2023 marks a major step forward, according to the report, ‘but its implementation will test the clarity and consistency of terrorism-related content standards’.
Among its many recommendations, the Commission recommends a more focused statutory definition of terrorism, as ‘acts intended to coerce, compel, or subvert government or an international governmental organisation’, and the threshold for property damage should apply only to conduct causing serious risk to life, national security, or public safety, or involving arson, explosives, or firearms. Since 2000, the profile of terrorism has shifted from large-scale, coordinated operations to smaller, self-initiated acts, often inspired rather than directed by organised groups. Those involved are increasingly younger and may be driven by complex mixes of ideology, grievance, and personal vulnerability. This poses new challenges for distinguishing terrorism from other forms of serious violence and requires a more nuanced response. The Commission heard evidence that, without careful calibration, counter-terrorism powers risk being applied too broadly—capturing behaviour that is ‘harmful but not terrorist’.
As for the Prevent strategy and the statutory Prevent duty, the Commission says that the radicalisation model that underpins both rests on the assumption that individuals at risk of committing terrorist acts can be identified through observable indicators—’an assumption not consistently supported by empirical evidence’, it adds.
As for social cohesion, the Commission points to racially motivated rioting in Northern Ireland (2025) and the 2024 riots following the Southport murders to communal tensions in Leicester (2022) and divisions over Israel–Gaza (2022-2025) — which though distinct from terrorism, ‘reveal deepening fractures in the UK’s social fabric’. The Commission suggests a ‘National Social Cohesion Strategy’. On policing, the Commission calls for ‘neighbourhood-based policing as a cornerstone of community safety and counter-terrorism strategy’. The report sums up that the UK’s counter-terrorism framework is ‘comprehensive and adaptive, but would benefit from a sharper strategic focus on effectiveness, proportionality, and accountability. The evolving nature of threats demands responses that are flexible and evidence-based, supported by robust legal safeguards and sustained public confidence’.
About the Commission
The Commission included former Cabinet ministers; and the former chief constable Sir Peter Fahy; and was chaired by Sir Declan Morgan KC PC, former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. It was formed under the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. Visit https://www.binghamcentre.biicl.org/.
