Revealing some in Manchester were “celebrating” the Bondi Beach massacre, Sir Stephen said there is a growing number of “enemies of liberalism and our democratic tradition”.
Sir Stephen Watson warned of a growing terror threat (Image: Getty)
The UK has been sent a horror warning that the threat of terrorism is getting worse and attacks are becoming more effective – from a leading police chief.
The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Sir Stephen Watson, admitted fear is building, with the “intolerable” becoming “normalised” and almost “accepted” in communities across the country.
Revealing some in Manchester were “celebrating” the Bondi Beach massacre, Sir Stephen said there is a growing number of “enemies of liberalism and our democratic tradition”.
The hugely respected officer hinted “all organs of the state” should clamp down on the threat posed by Islamist extremists.
He said fanatics are using the right to “free speech” to crush “the liberal bequeathment of free speech”, poisoning debate in the UK and creating a climate of fear.
An Islamist fanatic also targeted a synagogue in Heaton Park, resulting in British Jews losing their lives.
Sir Stephen said: “The terrorist threat is worse. The number of atrocities and the efficacy, to use a loaded word, of those atrocities has got worse”, the police chief said.
“The fear, particularly in our Jewish community in particular, has got worse.
“And the grounds that underpin that fear have become more realistic.
“I know that I had reports that there were people in Manchester celebrating the Bondi attack, in ways which is just sickeningly distasteful.
“The intolerable has become normalised and it’s almost become accepted as the way that things are.
“I suspect that what we saw in Sydney exacerbates that dynamic further.
“One of the contentious areas is where you have people who will use our liberal traditions, rightly so of exercising free speech, but will seek to use free speech to usurp the liberal bequeathment of free speech. They will seek to weaponise it against the thing that gave it birth.
“We are seeing, I suspect, a group of people, who are increasingly showing themselves out to be the enemies of liberalism and our democratic tradition.”
British terror police are on red alert over fears of copycat attacks following the Bondi Beach atrocity.
Counter terrorism chiefs and the security services are monitoring for signs the attack which killed at least 15 people could inspire jihadis to carry out more violence.
One of two gunmen, Sajid Akram, was also killed in a shootout with police.
Mr Watson told a Policy Exchange event “10-year-old girls” had requested armed police officers for Hanukkah events following the Bondi Beach atrocity, in which 15 people were murdered.
Discussing the terror threat, Sir Stephen said: “We need to move to a space where we recognise the threat for what it is, that all of the organs of the state need to turn more directly to tackling what is a significant threat, not just to our Jewish communities but to our country, and I think we do need to step up.
“Even six months ago, chanting “globalise the intifada”, it’s questionable whether you would find yourself being held up by the police.
“What I can tell you is that, if you do that this weekend, my officers will arrest you.
“And that is a straightforward reflection of the fact that the dynamic is changing.
“People are calling for things to be globalised which are being globalised. We need to respond to it.”
Two people were arrested in London on Wednesday for chants linked to the “intifada”.
A record number of children were arrested for terrorism offences in the past year, alarming figures show.
Some 53 youngsters were held by police in the year to September, up from 32 in the previous 12 months and the previous high of 34 in 2023.
Just one of these was linked to the proscription of Palestine Action, prompting renewed fears over the radicalisation of young people online.
In total, almost 1,900 people were arrested for terrorism offences in the year to September.
This was driven by a sharp increase following the proscription of Palestine Action.
Staggering Home Office figures show 1,630 of the 1,886 (86%) arrests were linked to supporting Palestine Action, following its proscription on 5 July 2025.
Women were “4.4 times” more likely to be detained for supporting the terrorist organisation, figures show.
Sir Stephen added of the policing of protests, taking a question from former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe during a debate with former Security Minister Tom Tugendhat: “Tom previously mentioned people having cultural advisors in their headquarters and Lord Hogan-Howe pointed to having CPS lawyers.
“You’ll be pleased to know that up North we don’t encumber ourselves with these difficulties….So it has not been the case for me that we have struggled too much with perhaps a risk averse lawyer saying “don’t do that, it might be tricky”, we prefer to act and then let the process to take its course.”
