UK terror arrests hit record levels

The number of arrests for terrorism- related offences has hit record levels in the UK, according to new official figures released here today, amid influence on its nationals, especially the youth, from the dreaded Islamic State.
In the year that ended in March this year, 299 terror suspects were detained - an increase of 31 per cent from the same period the previous year.
From those arrested, 100 were charged with a terror- related offence, UK Home Office said.
It marks the highest number since UK officials began collecting data on terror offences in September, 2001.
The previous peak of 284 occurred in 2005, the year of the July 7 attacks on London's transport network.

Among those arrested, there was a "marked increase" in the number who considered themselves to be of British or British dual nationality, officials said.

In 2014-15, they accounted for more than three-quarters of those detained for terrorism-related offences, compared with 52 per cent in the year until March, 2011.
The Home Office statistical bulletin setting out the data said there had been fluctuations in the number of terrorism- related arrests since the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11, 2001.
"In late 2010, the Arab Spring began, and throughout the years since the initial uprising, the number of terrorism- related arrests in Great Britain has seen a steady rise," it said.

The number of 18 to 20-year-olds arrested more than doubled on the previous year from 20 to 43, the report found.
The figures also show a spike in the last three months of last year, when there were 106 arrests.
Charlie Winter, senior researcher at counter-extremism think-tank Qulliam, said: "These figures and the significant rises are to be expected given the fact that Islamic State is presenting an unprecedented situation.
"We've a threat that's greater than it has been but also more closely scrutinised than it has been."
The rate fell from January to March this year, with 67 terror-related arrests but this was still higher than the same period in the previous two years.

In 2014-15, there were 35 women arrested on terror- related offences; also a record figure and more than treble the number five years ago.
Eight of those arrested were under 18, reflecting a growing trend among schoolgirls being lured by Islamic State (ISIS) militants to Syria.
The total number of terror arrests in the UK since recording began 14 years ago is just under 3,000.