Ex-police chief likens riots to terrorism

The former head of counter-terrorism policing says some violence during the riots has “crossed the line into terrorism”.

Neil Basu, who held the top counter-terror job between 2018 and 2021, said: “I hope my successors are looking at that very closely.”

He told the BBC: “I think we have seen serious acts of violence designed to cause terror to a section of our community.”

Mr Basu said “people should look very carefully” at the legal definition of terrorism when considering some of the violence and actions seen since last week.

He said the current wave of violence had been triggered by “lies spread through social media” and “we need to do something about that”.

On X far-right activist and convicted criminal Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, spent the weekend posting inflammatory messages to thousands of followers, all from the safety of a sun lounger in Cyprus.

Robinson was handed back his X account last November by the social media firm’s billionaire owner Elon Musk.

Mr Musk himself posted this weekend where he said civil war in the UK was “inevitable”.

X has not replied to the BBC’s requests for comment.

For Mr Basu, social media companies “only respond” to two things: a change in the law or advertisers pulling out because they do not want to be associated with “platforms that would allow lies that result in violence and sheer terror in communities”.

The targeting of hotels believed to be housing migrants comes after years of demonisation by the far right with lists of hotels shared on social media, making it hard to know where might be struck next.

Mr Basu said “we should be appealing” to advertisers to cut the funding of social media giants if responsibility was not exercised.

He also said there were gaps in the laws relating to hateful extremism which needed to be filled, particularly to stop Robinson “glorifying and creating violence from his sunbed in the Mediterranean”.

“Yaxley-Lennon knows well he’s in the full glare of policing, counter-terrorism policing, and the security service.”

Mr Basu said he had “spent many years skirting round various fringes of the law” and had been able to “inflame and toxify debates and create the kind of mayhem we’re seeing”.

“If he is not crossing a legal threshold, then the government and society need to consider if that threshold is in the wrong place,” Mr Basu added.