(London, UK) – The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) today publishes a stark new assessment by Professor Ian Acheson, Senior Advisor, warning that the current threat posed by violent extremists and extremist-adjacent offenders in UK prisons is intolerable and must be tackled urgently. The rapid review, Managing the Threat of Violent Extremism in Prisons, outlines a set of immediate recommendations to address what Acheson describes as a crisis in leadership, operational capability, and frontline staff protection.

Professor Acheson—who previously led the UK government’s independent review into Islamist extremism in prisons—states that “the proximity of a murder of a prison officer on duty is closer and the consequence for rehabilitation, stability and the rule of law inside prisons is closer and more severe than at any time in the last 10 years.”

Among the key findings:

• HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) “does not have the capacity or capability or frequently the will” to manage highly violent and ideologically motivated offenders.
• Frontline staff face serious risks, and the current reliance on “unearned incentives” to manage behavior is putting lives in danger.
• Leadership within HMPPS shows a “lack of energy and competence” in addressing threats from ideological offenders, with some of the most serious attacks on staff taking place in facilities that are not overcrowded.

Acheson proposes the creation of a new purpose-built High Control Centre, outside the current prison estate—ideally on a military base—to house exceptionally dangerous offenders. He also recommends that prisons holding terrorist prisoners establish dedicated internal response units with “expanded less than lethal and lethal alternatives” to deter attacks and boost officer confidence.

He further calls for a strategic reassessment of the role and operation of separation centres, emphasizing the need for transparency and accountability: “We need to focus on how these centres have operated and the reasons why basic security and safety were undermined to such an extent murderous attacks were possible.”

While the report finds no evidence of a comparable threat from neo-fascist or extreme right-wing terrorism in prison, it warns that failure to confront Islamist-infiltrated gang dominance in high-security prisons may “replicate and magnify the risk.”

This rapid review is a call to action for policymakers, prison leaders, and the wider public: protecting the safety of prison officers is not only a moral imperative—it is essential to the rule of law and national security. 

Read the rapid review here. 

CONTACT:
Keith Burnet
Communications Consultant, Counter Extremism Project
[email protected]
+44 7714 200 920

Ian Acheson
Senior Advisor, Counter Extremism Project
[email protected]
+44 7530 088 244