Former government minister says it is becoming increasingly apparent that people are being radicalised in their bedrooms rather than in places of worship

Britain is fighting an “ever-losing battle” to stop extremists from radicalising people online, a former coalition minister has said.

Lady Warsi, who resigned last summer over the government’s “morally indefensible” policy on Gaza, said it was becoming more apparent that people were being radicalised in their bedrooms rather than in places of worship.

Warsi, who was Britain’s first female Muslim cabinet minister, said there was no single driver of radicalisation nor a “single journey to somebody becoming a terrorist”.

The Tory peer told the Murnaghan programme on Sky News: “Online radicalisation is of course a large aspect of it.

“Much resource has gone into making sure websites are taken down, but we are fighting an ever-losing battle with extremist groups. One of the things that [Islamic State] has been incredibly successful at has been using the internet and social networking spaces for their own propaganda.”

Police are urgently trying to trace Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, after they flew to Istanbul from Gatwick airport on Tuesday. It is believed they have fled to Syria to join Islamic State.

Reports have emerged that at least one of the girls had been in contact with Aqsa Mahmood, who left her Glasgow home in November 2013 after becoming radicalised.

The former foreign secretary, William Hague, said it was unrealistic for the security services to find everything. Now the Commons leader, Hague praised the work of the security services, telling Pienaar’s Politics on BBC Radio 5 Live: “It’s unrealistic to expect that every single thing is found and remember that we’ve spent the last couple of years being heavily criticised for having so much surveillance.

“You are looking for needles in haystacks. What’s remarkable is how often we do find the needle in the haystack. In order to continue to do that in the future, we will need to update the powers of the security services as technology is changing all the time, and that makes it harder to intercept organised crime or potential terrorist activity.”

For Labour, the shadow foreign secretary, Douglas Alexander, said that the government needed to reverse cuts to the Prevent counter-radicalisation programme following the disappearance of the three schoolgirls.



“What we have seen in recent years is a huge cutting back of that Prevent programme under the current government. I hope that in the light of these very worrying developments the government will think about its approach to Prevent,” he told Sky News.

The shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna, said more could be done in schools to give children an understanding about world affairs and to inform them about why things are happening.

The MP for Streatham told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I think the more you are taught in school about current and world affairs the better.

“But I really do think this is not just an issue for the intelligence services; it’s for all of us in our schools, in our communities, in our families to tackle this.”

The justice minister, Simon Hughes, said he hoped the three missing schoolgirls were receiving the messages encouraging them to come home. He told Sky News: “This is more akin to a grooming issue.”

The Liberal Democrat added: “The security services already had the woman who apparently might be involved on their radar so we don’t need more powers. She was known to the authorities.”

Hughes said it was always important to ensure a counter-argument against Islamic State was being made in schools and also to show children “that’s not where excitement and success should lie” and that opportunities exist in the UK.