UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that the murder of three girls in Southport last July signals that Britain is facing a new type of terrorist threat in the form of extreme violence carried out by lone attackers.
Starmer remarked that “the harsh truth is that this case is a sign that the UK is dealing with a new threat.”
“Terrorism has changed,” he emphasized.
The British Prime Minister noted that in the past, the predominant threat came from highly organized groups with clear political motives, such as Al-Qaeda.
“That threat remains, of course, but now, alongside it, we are also seeing acts of extreme violence committed by lone individuals, losers, young people who gain access to all sorts of materials on the internet in their bedrooms, desperately wanting to become famous, sometimes inspired by traditional terrorist groups but fixated on this extreme violence, seemingly for its own sake,” he said.
Therefore, Starmer assured that the country’s terrorism laws could be amended if necessary.
