Read the MI5 chief's speech in full

Teenagers as young as 15 are being recruited by terrorist groups in Britain, swelling the number of people suspected of being involved in terrorism to 4,000, the head of MI5 said yesterday.

In his first public speech since taking over as Director-General of MI5 in April, Jonathan Evans indicated that the number of terrorist suspects has more than doubled in the past year.

Mr Evans painted an alarming picture of youngsters being turned into extremists, saying: “Terrorists are methodically and intentionally targeting young people and children in this country.

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“They are radicalising, indoctrinating and grooming young, vulnerable people to carry out acts of terrorism.”

In an address to the Society of Editors in Manchester, he said: “This year, we have seen individuals as young as 15 and 16 implicated in terrorist-related activity.”

Mr Evans, who has spent most of his career in MI5 in counter-terrorism, said there remained “a steady flow of new recruits to the extremist cause”.

In a speech in October last year, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, his predecessor, said there were 1,600 people on MI5’s books who needed watching.

However, Mr Evans said the figure of known suspects had jumped to “at least 2,000”, but he admitted: “We suspect that there are as many again that we don’t yet know of.” Police sources said yesterday that they were watching 500 people who were involved in at least 80 separate terrorist plots.

Speaking with the approval of Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, Mr Evans outlined the pressures facing his service on the eve of the Queen’s Speech to Parliament today in which she will announce a counter-terrorism Bill, one of the aims of which will be to extend the time granted to the police to hold terror suspects from 28 to 56 days.

Gordon Brown will confirm as the new session of Parliament gets under way that he believes there is a case for having a higher limit to deal with some cases, although he is unlikely to put a figure on the timescale. But proposals to double the limit to 56 days are favoured by ministers.

Juveniles can be detained in much the same way as adults under the Terrorism Act. There is provision to hold them at the high-security Paddington Green police station but they have to be held in a detention room rather than a cell and must have access to an “appropriate adult” as well as to a solicitor.

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