How will the UK’s counterterrorism strategy evolve to face modern challenges?

Joshua Taggart, Junior Consultant
06/02/2024

The United Kingdom has a long history of dealing with terrorism, with significant shifts in its counter-terrorism strategies from the Second World War to the present. Over the decades, evolving threats and changing geopolitical landscapes have required the UK to adapt its approaches to combat terrorism effectively. Now with the advent of advanced technologies including quantum and AI, the UK’s counterterrorism strategy will need to be more data-intensive and reliant on tech than ever before.

The evolution of British counter-terrorist methods from World War II to the present reflects a dynamic and adaptive response to changing threats. The UK has transitioned from focusing on conventional warfare in the 1940s to employing a multi-dimensional approach, incorporating intelligence, diplomacy, community engagement, and advanced technology to address modern terrorism challenges.  

At the turn of the century, the United Kingdom grappled with threats from Islamist terrorism, primarily driven by Al-Qaeda and later ISIS-inspired attacks. British counter-terrorism methods adopted preventive measures, community engagement, and the introduction of anti-terrorism legislation such as the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001. 

To combat this new wave of threats, the United Kingdom bolstered its intelligence agencies, improved coordination between both domestic and international law enforcement agencies, and enhanced security measures at key locations, including airports and government buildings. Since 2010’s Prevent Strategy, an increasing proportion of resources has been dedicated to monitoring and tackling online extremism, monitoring the activities of radicalised groups and collaborating with tech companies to remove extremist content – something even more pertinent with the passage of the Online Safety Act and the recently released consultation on priority illegal harms, which includes terrorist material.

As technology evolves, this shift from conventional/physical security measures to the digital sphere has accelerated, and brought about its own new set of challenges. As we’ve seen with the Online Safety Bill, the Government’s influence over end-to-end encrypted messaging (E2EE) has been heavily scrutinised by civil society groups who are worried about government encroachment on the right to privacy. 

Data harvesting, machine learning and automated systems will all become more integrated in between the public and private sectors.  Companies like Palantir and Anduril are already making progress as defence contractors focusing on a technological edge to modern warfare, analysing and preventing conflict before it occurs. If GCHQ and intelligence services aren’t already poaching top talent from the tech sector, they should be.

Above all, crucial questions remain as to what potential security risks are posed by private sector involvement and how the public sector can effectively use the talent and resources which are already evident in the private sector. If our governments can’t keep up with existing threats or use the tools at their disposal, the world automatically becomes a more dangerous place. The state needs to either integrate the best of the private sector effectively and quickly, or risk being left behind by countries with more advanced technologies for land, sea and air operations.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security formed the Corporate Security Symposia (CSS) precisely to facilitate better public-private collaboration to tackle these concerns and public-private partnerships in cybersecurity are well-documented and widely adopted. It is only a matter of time before this expands into other spheres, from energy and underwater cables to border security and radicalisation prevention. Where the private sector can support our shared goals of security, this should be encouraged.

The state’s primary obligation to its citizens is to protect the lives and livelihoods of its citizens. Rising threats from foreign actors, as well as established radical groups such as the Islamist and white supremacist movements, show how widespread and varied these threats are. If both Conservatives and Labour are to fulfil this fundamental obligation in a cost-effective and future-proofed manner, technological integration and innovative public-private partnerships will be crucial in the coming years and decades.