More white people arrested last year on suspicion of terrorism than Asian people, figures show

More white people were arrested last year in connection with terrorism than Asian people, according to official figures.

Figures from the Home Office show that arrests of white people accounted for 43% of arrests under the Terrorism Act 2000 and related laws, while Asian people accounted for 32% of terrorist-related arrests.

There were 273 arrests for terrorism-related activity in the year ending December 31, 2018, the figures show – down 41% on the 465 arrests the previous year.

The figures showed falls in the number of arrests across all ethnic groups – with the biggest decrease seen for those of Asian ethnic appearance, which was down by 56% when compared with the previous year.

There was a 26% decrease in the number of arrests of White people but the Home Office said this was the third highest number of arrests of white people in a calendar year since data collection began in 2001.

“Arrests of persons of White ethnic appearance accounted for 43% of arrests, an increase of nine percentage points on the previous year,” the report said.

“In contrast, those of Asian ethnic appearance accounted for 32% of terrorist-related arrests, down eleven percentage points on the previous year.

“The proportion of White people arrested now exceeds the proportion of Asian people arrested.”

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It said the proportion of those arrested who ‘of Black ethnic appearance’ increased by 3% to account for 13% of all arrests, while those of ‘Other’ ethnic appearance accounted for 12% of arrests.

The Home Office said the fall in overall arrests was partly due to the fact there was a large number of arrests the previous year in the wake of the London and Manchester terror attacks.

Of the 273 total arrests, 102 resulted in a charge, of which 81 were charged with terrorism-related offences.

Of those 81, 38 have been prosecuted so far and all convicted.