Updated Counter Terrorism Strategy announced

The government has completed its review of the CONTEST Strategy designed to fight the threat of terrorism across the UK and the international interests of the country.

The changes have been made to continue to reflect risks posed by terrorists. The four strands of the approach cover:

Pursue: to stop terrorist attacks

Prevent: to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism

Protect: to strengthen our protection against terrorist attack

Prepare: where an attack cannot be stopped, to mitigate its impact

Significant progress has been made in the fight against international terrorism, with Al Qa'ida being reported as a significant threat, but weaker than was previously assessed. Other groups however have gained in strength and notably the threat from Irish dissident groups has increased over recent months.

DOWNLOAD CONTEST STRATEGY SUMMARY (1Mb)

DOWNLOAD FULL CONTEST STRATEGY (3Mb)  

The publication of the new CONTEST Strategy coincides with the reduction of the threat level by the Security Service (MI5) from SEVERE to SUBSTANTIAL, a decision taken by JTAC independently of Ministers. The SUBSTANTIAL threat level means that "a terrorist attack is a strong possibility and might well occur without further warning".  The public are urged to remain vigilant.    

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