WEBVTT - Attacks Brings New Attention to U.K. Preparedness (Audio) 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.840 There were eight arrests in overnight raids in London and 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:07.360 Birmingham following yesterday's deadly terror attack outside the British Parliament 0:00:07.720 --> 0:00:10.880 committed by one British born suspect using a car and 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:14.360 a knife. Prime Minister Theresa May told Parliament today that 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:19.080 British security services investigated the terrorists behind the attack years 0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:23.240 ago due to concerns over his links to violent extremism. 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:27.680 He was a peripheral figure. The case is historic. He 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:31.760 was not part of the current intelligence picture. There was 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:34.920 no prior intelligence of his intent or of the plot. 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:39.560 Police have identified the suspect as Khalid Massued, a fifty 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:42.720 two year old from Kent with convictions for violence dating 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:46.720 back to three His last conviction was in two thousand 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:50.320 three for possession of a knife. A full counter terrorism 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:55.000 investigation is under way joining us is Julia Ebner, senior 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:58.960 researcher at Quilliam of London based think tank that focuses 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:02.880 on counter extreme amisum Julia. A number of so called 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:06.720 lone wolf terrorists had drawn the attention of authorities at 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:10.800 some point before the attacks, and some say law enforcement 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:14.400 agency you should have more leeway to conduct surveillance and 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:18.119 act on it, which may lead to issues with privacy 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:23.119 among other things. Where do you stand on that? Yes, 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:26.319 so I think Um, it's true that there has certainly 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:29.800 been a trend moving away from these coordinated attacks that 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:32.400 we knew from Alglida, and especially now that I should 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:35.720 is losing ground UH in Syria and Iraq, it has 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:40.399 shifted its strategy towards the more UH in inspiring self 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:42.920 starter attacks, which are of course a lot harder to 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:46.319 detect and prevent. And I think the British intelligence and 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:49.800 security forces have done a tremendous job in preventing dozens 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:52.120 of attacks in the last year. But of course in 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:54.960 this it is very hard to even words to survellance 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:58.800 measures in place, and with constant monitoring of over three 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:01.800 thousand people in the view KAY who are at risk 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:04.640 of stating attacks, it's very hard for them to UH 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:07.560 to keep an eye on all of them, Julia, Up 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:10.480 until now, the UK has been spared of this kind 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:13.400 of attack, even though they have happened on the continent. 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:16.160 Was it just a matter of time before this happened 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:18.720 in the UK? Or does this attack tell us something 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:24.880 new about the state of Britain. Britain's exposure to the 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:29.240 sort of attack. Yes, Unfortunately, I think it was just 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:32.720 a matter of time because of course these these kind 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:36.919 of no tech but high impact attacks like using a 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:39.840 truck or using weapons such as a knife, is something 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:43.560 that can almost not be prevented. And um, as I said, 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:47.400 since there was little all the men was known to 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:52.120 the security forces UH the terrorist attacker it was, it 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:55.280 was not possible for the security services to UH. They 0:02:55.360 --> 0:02:58.600 have to prioritize at some point. So I think um 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:02.680 it takes twenty to twenty five people per per individual 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:05.799 that they have to monitor twenty four seven so um 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:09.240 M I five only has limited capacity to to monitor 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:11.960 all the individuals in the UK that are at risk 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:17.560 of radicalization. So, Julia, are there any answers, any possible 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:24.120 avenues to stop this or curtail it? I think because 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:26.520 it is impossible for the security forces and for the 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:29.000 intelligence forces to do it by themselves, we have to 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:31.800 take a more civil society that approach to this, and 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:35.120 this means working closer with front line workers, but also 0:03:35.200 --> 0:03:39.120 heating some of the profound community divisions that have arisen 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:42.400 in the last years and in fact some of the 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:46.560 radicalization hotbed for is limited extremism are the same hotbeds 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:49.040 that have also given birth to a lot of far 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:52.360 right movements. So they're in a way far right. And 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:55.200 isn't this extremist of feeding off each other's rhetoric and 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:58.520 they're helping each other to recruit new people to there 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:02.120 for their violent causes, Juliet, We're in this era where 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:06.280 countries are closing themselves off, even from countries that used 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:11.760 to be allies. Is that affecting the international cooperation against 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:17.000 the sort of terror attack? Absolutely, especially now with Brexit. 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:19.240 I think one of the main discussion points will be 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:22.880 how to what extends the UK. There has been a 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:26.080 leader in counter terrorism efforts across Europe, it has its 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:29.120 intelligence services are better i think than than most of 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:35.000 your counter terrorism forces or intelligence services um. But of 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:38.480 course not being at this at the same table automatically 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.640 and more after Brexit, not not being able to shape 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:43.960 the debate and more what have a big impact. Also 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:48.480 indust regards I think there's there is and also security, 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:52.080 especially with security corporation, is a lot about trust and 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:55.800 of course some of the trust tests has gotten lost 0:04:55.880 --> 0:05:00.159 in uh these emerging divisions on an institutional level, on 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:04.960 the European level, but on an international level. Really finally, 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:08.120 in about thirty seconds, Julia, what do you see as 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:16.120 the immediate repercussions of this attack? I think, um, what 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:19.040 what is most important now? Because it's immediately after attacks 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:21.960 that the narrative is shaped. What is most important now 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:25.680 is for the United Kingdom to uh to stay united, 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:28.000 and for Great Britain too. That's the only way Great 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:31.360 Pritain you can remain great because what isn't extremist for 0:05:31.560 --> 0:05:35.320 any form of terrorists are trying to achieve is widening 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:37.960 the rifts within our societies. So I do hope that 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:41.600 this one has happened, that in fact communities will stick 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:44.560 together and even close to them before and try to 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:49.680 give a response to this focus on solidarity rather than hatred. Well, 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:53.400 thank you for talking to us about this. That's Julia Ebner. 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.599 She's a senior researcher at kill Um, a London based 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:57.200 think tank.