The Ministry of Interior to review autism cases in the Counter-Extremism Unit

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The Home Office has ordered a review of the treatment of autistic people referred to the government’s Preventing Extremism programme, in recognition that a large number of minors with a neurodiverse diagnosis are cropping up in counter-terrorism cases.

This announcement comes after A Financial Times investigations In October, the scale of this trend was highlighted, with specialist psychiatrists estimating that 13% of counter-terrorism police work involved people with autism, a condition affecting just 1% of the population.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced new measures this week to strengthen the UK’s Prevent programme, which seeks to identify people at risk of radicalization and steer them away from violence. She said the program must adapt to the growing number of young people who are drawn to violent ideologies online.

She said the Home Office would undertake a strategic review to improve support for those referred to the prevention program “who have neurological differences or are experiencing mental ill health”.

Once people with a suspected diagnosis are included, a quarter of those receiving counter-extremism support from Prevent’s highest-risk program channel are autistic, according to a 2021 internal Home Office analysis seen by the Financial Times and reported on in the investigation.

The Home Office has never confirmed the existence of this research, and – until now – has not publicly acknowledged a link between autism and prevention referrals. The Homeland Security Analysis and Insight team, which compiled the 2021 study, is scheduled to provide input for the new review.

Experts who contributed to the Financial Times investigation say that while autistic people are less likely to break the law than their neurotypical peers, they may be more vulnerable to grooming and radicalization. The National Autistic Society has warned that some children with autism are being referred to a prevention program because there is not enough health care available to support their condition.

However, police and intelligence agencies have repeatedly drawn attention to the high number of children involved in terrorist activity. Currently, 13% of those under investigation by MI5 counter-terrorism teams are under 18, a three-fold increase in the last three years. The number of children under the age of 18 arrested for terrorist offenses rose from three in the year ending September 2010, to 32 in the year ending September 2024. Children aged 11 to 15 now make up 40% of All Prevent referrals.

This trend is causing concern outside the UK. A paper Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, security watchdog Five Eyes published earlier this month, said intelligence chiefs were “increasingly concerned” about the radicalization of minors planning or carrying out terrorist activities.

The paper called for better collaboration between law enforcement and academia to understand “vulnerability factors” around youth radicalization, including “neurodiversity and mental health.”

Jonathan Hall, the UK’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, was one of the first to denounce the prevalence of autism among Prevent referrals.

“It is not surprising that a major social disruptor like the Internet exposes new vulnerabilities, such as the presence of neurodivergent only children in counter-terrorism cases,” he told the Financial Times.

“Policy review is welcome, but it must be practical, and I suggest that if it is to be effective, it must start with the experiences of these children and young people.”