When Rishi Sunak came to the Downing Street podium on Friday to deliver his speech on the threats posed by extremism, he missed out on an important part of the danger.
The Prime Minister talked about the “Islamists” and the “far Right”, mentioning them five times and calling them “two sides of the same coin”.
But while Mr Sunak spoke about the threats posed by extremists, he did not name the collection of groups responsible.
Former home secretary Suella Braverman though has confirmed that not only is this collection of groups recognised, but it also has its own specific name in security terminology.
The jargon word used in the Home Office and by security services actually includes most of the disruption caused to Britain by extremists in the last decade.
The extremist threat to the UK are groups on the far Left but there is an agreed term in Government to refer to them – LASITs. This means Left-wing, Anarchist, Single Issue Terrorists.
According to sources, it includes groups like Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil and other climate change extremist groups who have attacked artwork, glued themselves to buildings and blocked roads.
It also included the Left-wing activists who were arrested by the police during the Coronation, including the republican groups who wanted to disrupt the event.
LASITs can also be found on the anti-Israel marches alongside Islamists chanting the antisemitic song “From the River to the Sea” and holding offensive placards.
There are also cases of violent anarchist groups.
Mrs Braverman said: “LASITs are definitely one of the biggest problems.”
Many Tory MPs were disappointed that Mr Sunak did not mention LASITs or the Left in his speech.
One MP noted that he may have “not wanted to pick a fight with Labour and hoped it would be a moment of unity”.
But the election of George Galloway in Rochdale on an anti-Israel ticket has shown for many that so-called LASITs combined with Islamists are a real danger.
