Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information he holds on the number of Al Qaeda (a) members and (b) supporters in the UK.

For reasons of national security, it would not be appropriate to disclose figures on the number of Al Qaeda affiliated individuals in the UK.

Membership and support for a proscribed terrorist organisation is an offence under sections 11 and 12 of the terrorism act 2000. The police and security services work day and night to keep the public safe, they are currently managing nearly 800 live investigations of around 3,000 individuals.