Curb extremism now or face new terrorist threats, Labour warned

Police officers move the van used in an attack near a mosque in Finsbury Park, north London, in 2017. Terrorism expert Neil Basu has cited the attack as an example of how dangerous rhetoric can provoke extreme violence. Photograph: Frank Augstein/AP

Labour must reverse years of ­political failure on extremism to stop it ­fuelling more disorder, violence and terrorism in Britain, leading figures have said.

Neil Basu, the former head of counter-terrorism policing, and Dame Sara Khan, previously the government’s counter-extremism tsar, warned that proposals unveiled last month would not be enough to address a toxic pool of hatred, conspiracy theories and “dangerous rhetoric” from high-­profile figures including Elon Musk.