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Analysis

Understanding the risks of terrorism

Analysis

BBC

News, Politics

4.61K Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2019

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How do the authorities, business and the public perceive and respond to the risk of violent terrorism?

With unprecedented access to the work of an active MI5 officer, home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani discovers the depth of the challenge facing the security services. Just how do MI5 operatives go about filtering hundreds of weekly tip-offs into a few key leads? In a world of online radicalisation and increasing hate crime, how can they prioritise those that pose a real and immediate threat to the public, and avoid wasting resources on red herrings and keyboard warriors?

He also hears from:

- Paul Martin, who led security preparations for the London 2012 Olympics - Nicola Benyahia, whose son was radicalised and killed fighting in Iraq - Dr Julia Pearce, expert on communication and terrorism at King's College London - Brigadier Ed Butler, Head of Risk Analysis at Pool Re - Rizwaan Sabir, expert on counter-terrorism and political Islam at Liverpool John Moores University

Would we be safer if we knew more about the threats that face us, or should we be kept in the dark?

Presented by Dominic Casciani Produced by Beth Sagar-Fenton

Transcript

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0:00.0

Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.

0:04.6

My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.

0:08.4

As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable

0:14.3

experts and genuinely engaging voices. What you may not know is that the BBC

0:20.4

makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,

0:24.6

poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.

0:29.7

If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.

0:36.0

BBC Sounds.

0:38.0

BBC Sounds, Music Radio Podcasts.

0:41.0

Hello, thanks for listening to this edition of Analysis. podcasts. Home Affairs correspondent, I tend to cover a lot of stories about terrorism and

0:54.3

security and over the next half hour I'm going to look at how and whether we

0:58.6

understand the risk terrorism poses and take you inside MI5.

1:05.0

People often talk about signs of radicalisation

1:08.0

or what to look for and it's incredibly, incredibly difficult.

1:12.0

You don't see it even if you're the closest person to them. You don't

1:15.4

necessarily see it. It's only in hindsight you will see it and you will be able to connect the dots.

1:21.1

Sandwell College in the West Midlands, Nicola Benyaha is telling the story of her son Rashid.

1:27.6

He joined the Islamic State Terror Group and died in Iraq when he was 19 years old.

1:33.7

She's warning other families about the risks of radicalization,

1:37.4

risks she says we need to confront

1:39.9

rather than run away from.

1:46.0

I'm Dominic Cashioni, a BBC correspondent, and I've reported on terrorism for more than a decade.

...

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