The Home Office published its counter-terrorism disruptive powers report for 2025 on GOV.UK on Wednesday 14 October. It shows 3,034 people arrested for terrorism-related activity in Great Britain in 2025, against 250 the year before, with 2,779 of those arrests (92 per cent) linked to supporting Palestine Action after its proscription on 5 July 2025.
What the report says
With the Palestine Action arrests removed, there were 255 terrorism-related arrests in 2025, which the report says is a 2 per cent rise on the previous year. Of the 3,034 arrests, 486 (16 per cent) led to a charge, 469 of them terrorism-related. Of those 469, 15 had been prosecuted, all convicted, and 425 were awaiting prosecution. As of 31 December 2025, 267 people were in custody in Great Britain for terrorism-connected offences.
At ports and borders, there were 2,654 examinations under Schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act 2000 across the UK in 2025, up 6 per cent on 2024, and 58 per cent of examinations in Great Britain resulted in detention. The report notes that an examining officer does not need grounds for suspicion to use the power, though selection must not be arbitrary or discriminatory. Officers also carried out 837 air freight and 311 sea freight examinations.
On other powers, the report says three organisations were proscribed in 2025 (Palestine Action, the Maniacs Murder Cult and the Russian Imperial Movement). As of December 2025, 84 organisations were proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000. Ten people were excluded from the UK, seven were deprived of British citizenship on conducive grounds, three Temporary Exclusion Orders were imposed, and passport facilities were withdrawn or refused on national security grounds three times. Police referrals secured the removal of 316 pieces of terrorist content from 361 referrals to platforms.
In his foreword, Security Minister Dan Jarvis writes that the UK threat level is SEVERE, "meaning an attack is highly likely in the next six months."
What it does not say
The report covers calendar year 2025, so it does not cover any arrests or powers used in 2026. Many of the charged cases are still ongoing, and the report says the number of charges can be expected to rise over time.
What it means for operators
These are Ops Con planning points. For teams moving principals through UK ports and airports, Schedule 7 stops are a routine part of the environment: more than 2,600 a year across the UK, and 58 per cent of those in Great Britain led to detention. Brief principals that an examination does not require suspicion, and build the time into movement plans. For anyone working around protests, the arrest figures show how proscription changes the legal exposure of a group's supporters, which is worth understanding when advising clients attending or operating near demonstrations.
