81. MI5 advises that the increase in ERWT online material enables S-ITs to:
Self-radicalise online with no real world or direct communication with an organised group; ***. The variety of [E]RWT material online enables [S-ITs] to quickly form a hybrid of [E]RWT ideologies, rather than having to adhere to a strictly defined set of principles. While a lack of ideological consensus amongst members can prevent groups from moving to violent action, [S-ITs] have no such constraints, requiring neither the sanction nor involvement of others. For this reason [S-ITs], especially those who Radicalise online, can move from theoretical inspiration to real world action in a short space of time.[1] ***.[2]
82. The Head of CTP noted that, looking at terrorism across the board and regardless of ideology:
[it] has become much more in that self-initiating space, their being incited and inspired, rather than directed and trained and enabled, and that is harder to spot. It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about Right Wing, Left Wing, Single Issue or Islamist.[3]
E. The terrorist threat—regardless of ideology—is increasingly posed by Self-Initiated Terrorists, those who are incited or inspired rather than directed. Self-Initiated Terrorists are difficult to identify, and pose a significant number of challenges in terms of detection and monitoring. Their motivation can be highly individualistic and determining how, why and when they may choose to attack is particularly difficult for MI5 and Counter Terrorism Policing. An innovative approach will be needed to counter the fragmented and complex threat posed by these disparate groups and individuals.
Mental health and developmental disorders
83. MI5 acknowledges that mental health issues can be a factor when retrospectively attempting to assess an individual’s motivation for conducting a terrorist attack. It is often not possible to determine the extent to which an attack was motivated exclusively by an extremist ideology, or was exacerbated by complex mental health issues. This is a particular problem when it comes to S-ITs who may have had no prior engagement with terrorist organisations, or indeed expressed any intention of carrying out a terrorist act. The Director General of MI5 pointed to the mass stabbing in a Glasgow hotel in June 2020 by Badreddin Abdalla Adam as an example of an attack that it transpired had, in fact, been prompted by a row with a fellow asylum seeker over noise:
- ↑ MI5 Strategic Intelligence Group paper, 13 January 2020.
- ↑ MI5 Strategic Intelligence Group paper, 13 January 2020.
- ↑ Oral evidence – CTP, 28 April 2021.
- ↑ This section is sub judice as at Monday 22 November 2021.
- ↑ On 16 March 2019, Vincent Fuller, a White Supremacist, stabbed Dimitar Mihaylov in Stanwell, Surrey. He received an 18‑year jail term on 10 September 2019.
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