UK adds extreme right-wing terrorism to threat level

LONDON

The U.K. on Tuesday added extreme right and left-wing terrorism to the public terrorism threat levels, according to a statement.

The U.K. made changes on threat level systems which now reflect the threat posed by all forms of terrorism, irrespective of ideology.

“Until today, the threat level system described the threat from ‘international terrorism’, which has become largely synonymous with Islamist terrorism,” said Sajid Cavid, the home secretary of the U.K.

The statement added that there will now be a single national threat level describing the threat to the U.K.

“This means, for the first time, the threat from extreme right and left-wing terrorism will be reflected in the published threat level,” the statement added.

The changes came after an extensive review into the country’s approach to counter-terrorism following the attacks in 2017.

Islamophobia in the U.K. has spiked following the 2017 terror attacks in London and Manchester, according to Tell MAMA, a group recording anti-Muslim hate crime.