Smith: Extra funding vital to counter terror threat

Home secretary Jacqui Smith says the government's efforts to tackle extremism are vital in the face of the "sustained threat from terrorism" the UK currently faces.

Ms Smith said the government would announce £11 million of funding this year before adding to that in the following two years, funding "about 400" extra police officers.

She revealed the new roles would see police officers training their colleagues on where radicalisation may be happening, working with young people and making links with community organisations.

"We can't arrest our way out of terrorism and so we need both to pursue and disrupt plots that are active, and we need to prevent in the long term people becoming or supporting terrorists," she explained.