Newsroom

The aim of the UK Government's CT strategy is to reduce the risk we face from international terrorism so people can go about their lives freely and with confidence.

The new strategy for countering international terrorism has been announced by the Home Secretary.

The strategy - known as CONTEST - builds on the successes of the existing policy, provides a detailed account of the history of the terrorist threat to the UK, and explains what led to the emergence of the threat we face today. It also theorises as to how the situation may evolve in the coming years and provides the basis for a coordinated approach to counter terrorism. For the first time, the Government sets out a full and as open an account as possible.

The strategy sets out the principles that form the basis of the government’s response to terrorism. These include keeping human rights at the heart of all the counter-terrorism work in this country and overseas. It also emphasises the need to address the longer term roots of terrorism, as well as its actions.

The new strategy retains the framework of the old - four main areas of work known as 'the Four Ps' - Pursue, Prevent, Protect and Prepare. But each of these areas has been updated and the strategy provides much more detail about specific objectives and programmes.

The Four Ps
The strategy sets out comprehensive programmes of action here and overseas including:

a Pursue strategy which makes use of new resources, which the Government has made available to the agencies, police and the counter terrorism network, to investigate and disrupt terrorist networks here and overseas and to prosecute those responsible.
a Prevent strategy rolled out since last year that reaches more people - nationally, internationally and locally - than ever before, with clear objectives (reflecting our better understanding of the causes of radicalisation), supporting programmes, dedicated staff and funding.
a Protect strategy which will further strengthen our borders, consolidate work on our critical national infrastructure and improve the protection of the crowded places where we work, live and play. We will continue to provide security advice to sports venues and shopping centres and expanded protective programmes for air, sea and rail transport security.
a Prepare strategy that will enable us to respond effectively to new types of threat and to recover from any terrorist attack faster than ever before, making use of the resilience network developed in this country in the past few years.

The strategy also includes a number of cross-cutting initiatives, new work to counter the threat of terrorist attack using chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive devices (CBRNE).

A new approach to fighting terrorism
The revised strategy contains separate entries covering specific subjects of interest. They include terrorist finance, conflict reduction, cross-Government work in Afghanistan/Pakistan, work on connection with terrorism and the internet and counter terrorism related communications.

The strategy describes in some detail how CONTEST works, taking into account the greater resources and the wider range of people now working in counter terrorism.

It sets out the roles for the many government departments involved in counter terrorism, as well as the role local and regional government can play. It identifies scientific and technical goals, and calls for closer work with the private sector.

It explains the cross-cutting roles of the police and armed forces.

The strategy outlines an international response to the threat, describing in each area the international work the government will be undertaking to support domestic programmes.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the document will help the government keep people safe, she said:

"Protecting the public is my key objective, and the aim of the government’s new counter-terrorism strategy is to reduce the risk of terrorism to allow people to go about their lives freely and with confidence.

"The UK has one of the most comprehensive and wide-ranging approaches to tackling terrorism in the world, and we have updated our CONTEST strategy to take account of the evolving threat, the lessons we have learned and the new challenges we face."