Home Office to review autism cases in anti-extremism unit

Unlock Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

The Home Office has ordered a review of the treatment of people with autism who are referred to the Government’s Prevent Deradicalisation programme, in recognition that high numbers of minors with neurodiversity diagnoses are appearing in anti-terror cases.

A declaration follows Financial Times investigation In October which highlighted the scale of the trend, specialist psychiatrists estimated that 13 per cent of police counter-terrorism work involved people with autism, a condition that affects just 1 per cent of the population.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper this week announced new measures to strengthen the UK’s prevention programme, which seeks to identify people at risk of extremism and divert them away from violence. He said the program had to adapt to the growing attraction of young people to violent ideologies online.

He said the Home Office would carry out a strategic review to refer to Prevent “people suffering from neurodivergent or mental illness”.

Once people with suspected diagnoses are included, a quarter of those receiving deradicalisation support from Prevent’s most serious “channel” stream are autistic, according to a 2021 internal Home Office analysis seen by the FT and reported 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 of referrals. The Homeland Security Analysis and Insights Team, which compiled the 2021 study, will provide input into the new review.

Experts contributing to the FT 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 radicalisation. The National Autistic Society warns that some autistic children are being referred to prevention because of a lack of adequate health care systems to support their condition.

However, police and intelligence agencies have repeatedly drawn attention to the involvement of children in terrorist activities. Currently, 13 per cent of those under investigation by the MI5 counter-terrorism team are under 18 – a three-fold increase in the last three years. The number of under-18s arrested for terrorist offenses rose from three in September 2010 to 32 in the year ending September 2024. Children aged 11 to 15 now account for 40 percent of all prevention referrals.

This trend is also causing concern outside the UK. A paper The Five Eyes, released earlier this month by security allies – Britain, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – said spy chiefs were “increasingly concerned” about the radicalization of minors who go on to plan or carry out terrorist acts.

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

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

“It’s not too surprising that a social disruptor as big as the internet would open up new vulnerabilities, such as the presence of lone neurodivergent children in counter-terrorist casework,” he told the FT.

“A policy review is to be welcomed, 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.”