State of Extremism Report

Lord Beamish Excerpts

Wednesday 17th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I happen to believe that some of the cultural differences are things we should be celebrating. I value living in a culturally diverse community, and I aim for a society where we can all live our own lives, live our own religions and enjoy our cultures, but have a shared ownership of being within the United Kingdom state. That is our objective—one that I hope the whole House shares.

[Lord Beamish (Lab)]

My Lords, my noble friend will recognise that an increasing number of the subjects of interest, in both the right-wing space and the Islamic space, being investigated by the security services are individuals under the age of 16. What more can be done to tackle the radicalisation of individuals, which is mainly done online?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

My noble friend makes a very important point, and it is extremely important that we challenge the poison of online extremism that sometimes occurs. Existing legislation, particularly the Online Safety Act, empowers Ofcom to order the taking down of material that is damaging or extremist, and significant fines can be levied. However, we need to further examine how the online space is used to radicalise people, particularly those who, very often in their own bedrooms, are looking at such material, being sucked into an extremist pit—be it the right, Islamic extremism, or any other form of extremism—and groomed, in a sense, to undertake further activities. This is an extremely important issue that is difficult to challenge, but it is one the Government need to address.