Home Office 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF [email protected] www.homeoffice.gov.uk Stephen Delahunty [email protected] FOI: 55307 29 October 2019 Dear Mr Delahunty Thank you for your e-mail of 2 September 2019 , in which you specifically request: - all digital and physical correspondence between anyone employed in, or subcontracted to, the department's Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU) and employees or representatives of Horizon PR in June 2017. Your request has been handled as a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In relation to these questions, I am able to disclose some of the information that you have requested, which can be viewed in Annex B. Other information relating to your request is being withheld at this time as it is exempt from disclosure by virtue of Section 24(1) (National Security). Please find further details of this exemption in Annex A. Furthermore, the Home Office has obligations under data protection legislation and in law generally to protect personal data. We have concluded that some of the information that you have requested is also exempt from disclosure under section 40(2) (personal information) of the FOI Act, because of the condition at section 40(3A)(a). This exempts personal data if disclosure would contravene any of the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. If you are dissatisfied with this response you may request an independent internal review of our handling of your request by submitting a complaint within two months to [email protected], quoting reference 55307. If you ask for an internal review, it would be helpful if you could say why you are dissatisfied with the response. As part of any internal review the Department's handling of your information request will be reassessed by staff who were not involved in providing you with this response. If you remain dissatisfied after this internal review, you would have a right of complaint to the Information Commissioner as established by section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act. Yours sincerely Freedom of Information Home Office Annex A – Public Interest Test Some of the exemptions in the FOI Act, referred to as ‘qualified exemptions’, are subject to a public interest test (PIT). This test is used to balance the public interest in disclosure against the public interest in favour of withholding the information, or the considerations for and against the requirement to say whether the information requested is held or not. We must carry out a PIT where we are considering using any of the qualified exemptions in response to a request for information. The ‘public interest’ is not the same as what interests the public. In carrying out a PIT we consider the greater good or benefit to the community as a whole if the information is released or not. The ‘right to know’ must be balanced against the need to enable effective government and to serve the best interests of the public. The FOI Act is ‘applicant blind’. This means that we cannot, and do not, ask about the motives of anyone who asks for information. In providing a response to one person, we are expressing a willingness to provide the same response to anyone, including those who might represent a threat to the UK. Section 24(1) -National Security Public interest considerations in favour of disclosing the requested information: The Home Office recognises that there is a general public interest in transparency and openness in government. Such openness would increase public understanding and inform public debate. In the context of this request, there is a public interest in being made aware of how the Home Office counters potential national security threats and protects UK citizens. Public interest considerations in favour of withholding the requested information: Disclosure of information would open up detailed information about organisations and individuals who are engaged in the delivery of, and who are supporting activities to prevent terrorism. This may impact negatively on the delivery of Home Office policies, and on the range of activities deployed in support of those policies. This includes activity to disrupt those who promote terrorism, and protect individuals who are vulnerable to recruitment by extremists or terrorist groups. These factors would serve to undermine the effectiveness of the Home Office strategies, and hence weaken and prejudice the national security of the UK. Balance of the public interest: We consider that there is an overriding public interest in withholding this information at this time. We consider that safeguarding national security interests is of overriding importance, Page 2 of 20 and that in this instance, the public interest is best served by the non-disclosure of this information. Annex B – Information Requested From: Date: Tuesday, 20 June 2017 15:12 Subject: OFFICIAL Counter-Terrorism Media Summary - Muslim Welfare Centre Attack Update OFFICIAL Tuesday 20th June Counter-Terrorism Media Summary – Muslim Welfare Centre Attack Update Executive Summary Leading CT Stories: • Coverage of the Finsbury Park terror attack has fallen over the course of the day. The BBC’s One O'Clock News this afternoon reported that suspect Darren Osborne is still being questioned by police after he was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and a range of terror offences. NHS England said this morning that seven people remained in hospital after the assault, three of whom were in a critical condition. • Multiple media outlets have carried further examination of the background of Finsbury Park terror attack suspect Darren Osborne, and his erratic behaviour in the days leading up to his assault. Mail Online reports that police were warned Osborne was drunk and unconscious on the front seat of his rented white van 24 hours before his attack, and that the father-of-four had been living in a tent in some South Wales woodland after splitting from the mother of his children. Friends have described him as a “psycho” who had a reputation for drunken fights. The Guardian reports that people who said they knew him described him as “a fighter” who would “flip” when he drank too much. • Speaking with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, former Met chief Lord Blair of Boughton said further police cuts would be an “absurdity” in light of the force’s response to a string of recent major incidents, including the Finsbury Park terror attack. Lord Blair of Boughton said further cuts would leave the force a quarter of the size it was when he left office in 2008. Separately, the Evening Standard reports that nearly 2,000 extra police officers in London are to be armed with Taser stun guns to meet the threat of terrorism and knife crime. • Commentators have continued to focus on how the portrayal of Islam and Muslims in the media may have played a role in radicalising Darren Osborne. “Commentators are given a platform to claim not only that Islamophobia is not real, but that it’s actually rational to express prejudice towards Muslims on the basis of their religion,” Myriam Francois-Cerrah argues in an opinion piece for the New Statesman. Miqdaad Versi, Assistant Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, told Al-Jazeera the Page 3 of 20 problem is not limited to right-wing newspapers. "Not only do you see it in the tabloid press, which you see a lot of, but also within mainstream organisations, mainstream broadcasters, spreading this hatred,” he said. Detailed Media Summary Today's sections: Finsbury Park Terror Attack Finsbury Park Terror Attack - Comment, Analysis and Reaction Finsbury Park Terror Attack - Communities Finsbury Park Terror Attack Police Were Warned 'There’s A Drunk Man In A Van' 24 HOURS Before A Vehicle Ploughed Into Muslims Outside A Mosque As It Emerges Heavy Drinking Dad-of- four Terror Suspect Has Been Living In A Tent After Splitting From His Partner Six Months Ago The Daily Mail, 20/06/2017 It has been claimed today that police were warned Finsbury Park terror suspect Darren Osborne was drunk and unconscious on the front seat of his rented white van 24 hours before he allegedly used it to mow down Muslims, Mail Online reports this morning. Osborne, 47, was reportedly seen sleeping across the front three seats of the box van in his home town of Cardiff in the early hours of Father's Day. Hours earlier he was thrown out of his local pub after a drunken night where he started “cursing Muslims” and vowing to “do some damage”. Mail Online also reports that the father-of-four had been living in a tent in some South Wales woodland after splitting from the mother of his children Sarah Andrews, 42, six months ago. Friends have described him as a “psycho” who had a reputation for drunken fights. The Guardian reports that people who said they knew him described him as “a fighter” who would “flip” when he drank too much. Sister Of Finsbury Park Terror Suspect Darren Osborne: 'I've Never Heard Him Say Anything About Muslims Or Anything Racist' The Evening Standard, 20/06/2017 The sister of Finsbury Park terror attack suspect Darren Osborne has told the Evening Standard he was not a racist and never expressed views on Muslim people. Speaking to the paper from her home in Weston-super-Mare, Osborne’s sister Nicola said: “Obviously I’m really sad about what’s happened. It’s terrible, I can’t believe it. I think I’m in shock.” Asked whether she had recognised her brother in the video of his arrest, she said: “No I haven’t seen it, I don’t want to.