The UK government is set to change rules to provide for isolating convicted terrorists to reduce the risk of fellow prisoners being radicalised.
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab will introduce the change that enables jail authorities to put dangerous radicalisers in separate cells soon after their sentencing, Sky News reported.
The measure, recommended in a recent independent report on terror in prisons, aims at stopping the criminals from brainwashing their jail mates and spreading hate.
Under existing rules, convicts are housed together, risking radicalisation of inmates within prisons and specific approval is required to isolate dangerous prisoners.
The proposed changes to rules governing prisons come amid media reports that Manchester Arena bomber Salman’s brother Hashem Abedi is kept in isolation.
Salman had set off an explosion at a 2017 Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, killing 22 people. Abedi, found guilty of playing an "integral part" in the bomb attack, was handed down a jail term of a minimum of 55 years.
Now, he is believed to have been kept in a separation centre because of the threat of radicalisation he posed.
There are more than 200 inmates in the country who are convicted of terrorism-related offences.
Jonathan Hall QC, the independent reviewer of terror legislation, said in his report that prisons must not provide opportunities for militants to plan new attacks.
The report warned that the prison service failed to recognise the dangers Islamist gangs and convicted terrorists posed inside jails.
The service "lost its role in the national endeavour to reduce the risk of terrorism", the BBC said citing the report.
The impact of Islamist groups housed in prisons was underappreciated, according to Hall.
The justice ministry said after the publication of the report that it was committed to isolating radicalisers.
UK to move radicalised convicts in separate cells to prevent them brainwashing other jail inmates
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab is expected to introduce changes to rules governing prisons
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)