Terrorism definition should not be broadened in wake of Southport attacks, says independent terror legislation reviewer

6 March 2025, 18:10 | Updated: 6 March 2025, 18:14

The Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, has told LBC he will not recommend the definition of terrorism is broadened in the wake of the Southport attacks.

Speaking to LBC's Tom Swarbrick, Mr Hall said it is an incredibly sensitive issue but there also needs to be perspective.

It comes as a report on the definition of terrorism and the Prevent counter-terrorism programme is due to be released next week.

"Should you change the definition (of terrorism) to deal with what you might call 'terrorising violence'? My answer is firmly no," Mr Hall said.

"Some people think that terrorism has to be applied because it shows how serious it is. But there's lots of very serious things that happen - for example, murder and rape - that you don't call terrorism."

Read more: Southport killer Axel Rudakubana's terror threat was dismissed by counterterrorism officers as 'interest in world news'

Read more: Horror footage shows moment police rush towards Southport dance studio while killer is still inside

Watch Again: Tom Swarbrick is joined by Jonathan Hall KC

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana, who was sentenced to 52 years in jail for the murder of three young girls, had been referred to Prevent on three separate occasions - with no further action being taken at any point.

He had shown a clear interest in violence, including the Manchester Arena bombings that killed 22 people and saying he "wanted to stab people".

"If you started to say every really violent, sadistic murder (was terrorism), things like the threat level would have to go up," Mr Hall said.

"There is a tier of quite extreme, non-terrorist violence and I'm saying are there lessons from managing terrorists, where you have what's called a subject of interest and you have a designated person in high-risk cases who has a firm eye on them."

He went on to explain: "When you have people who are that risky, there's no alternative to a cop, someone who has got a public protection remit who can make urgent decisions which could be 'oh, we can't arrest him for that plot we're aware of on intelligence channels but we can arrest him for something else'.

"It's about a risk-management mentality."

"The first thing the government will be doing is trying to work out what that cohort looks like. It could be (thousands of people)."