UK raises terror alert as right-wing anti-immigrant attacks on mosques surge

During the latest UK threat assessment, MI5 chief Sir Ken McCallum warned that the recent elevation of the national terrorism level to “severe” reflects a growing wave of extreme-right violence aimed at Muslims and migrants. He highlighted cases such as a teen who plotted to set fire to the Inverclyde Muslim Centre and cited British Muslim Trust data indicating an attack on a mosque roughly every five days over the past year.

The director general said the demographic most attracted to such extremism is young and heavily influenced by internet propaganda. He also referenced a series of protests and disorder at asylum-seeker housing since the 2024 Southport riots, including an August assault on a Thetford address and a mistaken targeting of a Portsmouth hotel housing a Pakistani cricket team. McCallum’s briefing warned that AI could facilitate the creation of novel bioweapons and tailored extremist content, and he identified Russia as the foremost foreign threat to UK security.