Britain is ‘home to 35,000 Islamist fanatics’, more than any other country in Europe, top official warns

Britain is home to 35,000 Islamist fanatics, more than any other country in Europe, the EU anti-terror chief has said. Gilles de Kerchove warned that of those, 3,000 were “’worrying” for MI5.

He also warned Islamic State will attempt a cyber-attack on nuclear power stations or air traffic control systems within five years, potentially by paying paying Russian hackers to break into vital computer systems.

Mr de Kerchove told Spain’s El Mundo newspaper: “The United Kingdom has identified 20,000 to 35,000 radicals. Of these, 3,000 are worrying for MI5, and of those 500 are under constant and special attention.

“France has 17,000. Spain many less, but more than 5,000 I suppose. In Belgium almost 500 have been to Syria and there are around 2,000 radicals or more.

“I wouldn’t like to put a concrete figure on it, but (in Europe) tens of thousands, more than 50,000. We must select those who are really worrying and the most dangerous, and they should be monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Personally I would go further into the area of deportation as enemy aliens for those born abroad, internment for those born on British soil with parents ditto, escalating to the ultimate threat of capital puishment for treason or spying. But I’m old-fashioned like that.