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May: I’ll rip up human rights laws that impede new terror legislation
PM
says she is looking at making it easier to deport foreign suspects as
she seeks to gain control of security agenda before election
6
June, 2017
Theresa
May has declared she is prepared to rip up human rights laws to
impose new restrictions on terror suspects, as she sought to gain
control over the security agenda just 36 hours before the polls open.
The
prime minister said she was looking at how to make it easier to
deport foreign terror suspects and how to increase controls on
extremists where it is thought they present a threat but there is not
enough evidence to prosecute them.
The
last-ditch intervention comes after days of pressure on May over the
policing cuts and questions over intelligence failures, following
terror attacks on London Bridge, Manchester and Westminster.
MI5
to review handling of London Bridge attack, says Theresa May
Read
more
She
said: “But I can tell you a few of the things I mean by that: I
mean longer prison sentences for people convicted of terrorist
offences. I mean making it easier for the authorities to deport
foreign terror suspects to their own countries.
“And
I mean doing more to restrict the freedom and the movements of
terrorist suspects when we have enough evidence to know they present
a threat, but not enough evidence to prosecute them in full in court.
“And
if human rights laws stop us from doing it, we will change those laws
so we can do it.”
The
proposed measures appear to be an attempt at strengthening terrorism
prevention and investigation measures (Tpims) rather than a complete
return to Labour’s control orders, which were repeatedly struck
down by the courts and then scrapped by May in 2010 when she was home
secretary.
They
could involve further curfews, restrictions on association with other
known extremists, controls on where they can travel and limits on
access to communication devices.
She
could even increase the period for which terror suspects can be held
without trial, currently 14 days – a move that provoked clashes
with civil liberties campaigners when Tony Blair attempted it after
the 7 July 2005 attacks.
May
told the Sun she would consult the intelligence agencies about what
they think is needed: “When we reduced it to 14 days, we actually
allowed for legislation to enable it to be at 28 days. We said there
may be circumstances where it is necessary to do this. I will listen
to what they think is necessary for us to do.”
The
Conservatives have promised not to withdraw from the European
convention on human rights during the next parliament but they could
begin to try to replace or amend parts of the Human Rights Act after
the UK leaves the EU.
It
is possible May’s plans could involve seeking further derogations
from the ECHR. This is the way the government is seeking to prevent
human rights claims against soldiers in future military situations.
Earlier
in the day, the prime minister tried to return her election campaign
to the issues of Brexit and her leadership, as the Tories’ poll
lead over Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour remained narrow.
But
she continued to face a barrage of questions over the impact of cuts
to policing. Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, said planned
cuts of 10-40% in London over the next four years would make it
“harder to foil terrorist attacks on our city”.
May
was then repeatedly challenged about how the Home Office, police and
intelligence services dealt with the information relating to the
attackers, after Boris Johnson, her foreign secretary, said MI5 had
questions to answer. One of the attackers, Khuram Butt, 27, had been
reported to the anti-terror hotline in 2015 and a third attacker,
Youssef Zaghba, 22, had been detained by Italian authorities in 2016.
Zaghba,
named by police for the first time yesterday, was put on an
international terrorism database for an attempt to travel to Syria in
March 2016 which was thwarted after he allegedly told officials at
Bologna: “I am going to be a terrorist.” But this does not seem
to have been spotted by UK intelligence agencies.
His
mother, Valeria Collina, told the Italian news magazine L’Espresso
that her son was “friends” with the two other men and monitored
by Italian officials after his failed journey to Syria.
May
said she “absolutely recognised people’s concerns” and added
that she expected the intelligence agencies to launch a review of the
London Bridge attack.
“We
need to look at how the terror threat is evolving, the way that
terrorism is breeding terrorism and the increased tempo of attacks.
We have had three horrific attacks and we have foiled five others.
The tempo is there in a way we haven’t seen before,” she said.
“We
will look at how the processes were followed, what they did. They
will want to be looking at that because they will want to learn
lessons for the future, if there are those lessons to be learned.”
She
added: “The police and security service have done a good job in
foiling a number of plots – just five in the last three months, and
a significant number in the last few years as well.”
May
declined to say whether Zaghba had been monitored or subject to an
exclusion order when he returned to the UK after being stopped in
Italy, and declined an opportunity to apologise for any failures by
the intelligence agencies.
Despite
having previously said she believed the police and security services
had the resources they needed to deal with terrorism, she went on to
announce details of a proposed crackdown on terrorism at a rally of
Conservative activists in Slough.
Her
remarks suggested that if she is re-elected her government could look
to step up the use of orders that restrict the movement of terror
suspects.
There
are currently only seven terror suspects considered enough of a
threat to be given Tpims, while there are about 23,000 people
considered to have been subjects of interest by the security
services. Tpims, which expire after two years, can include overnight
curfews of up to 10 hours, electronic tagging, reporting regularly to
the police, exclusion from certain zones, enforced relocation and
some limitations on use of a mobile phone and the internet.
Elements
of the orders could be strengthened but any attempt to return to the
18-hour-a-day curfews imposed by control orders would be likely to
end up in the courts.
May’s
proposals follow criticism from Labour and other parties about her
cuts to policing and approach to tackling terrorism in the Home
Office, which she led for six years. Corbyn accused the prime
minister on Sunday night of trying to “protect the public on the
cheap” by implementing 20,000 police cuts.
The
prime minister has also been accused of politicising her response to
the London Bridge terror attack when she addressed the nation outside
Downing Street on Sunday. She declared “enough is enough” as she
announced plans to
introduce
new anti-terror laws, without going into details about what
she
would do.
Labour
leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “You can’t keep our country safe on
the cheap. Theresa May is refusing to put in the resources that are
needed. She has slashed funding for the police, our courts system and
border force.
“I
will do everything necessary and effective to keep our people safe.
We will always keep the law under review, but don’t believe
would-be terrorists and suicide bombers will be deterred by longer
sentences or restricting our rights at home.
“The
right response to the recent attacks is to halt the Conservative cuts
and invest in our police and security services and protect our
democratic values, including the Human Rights Act.
“It
is disgraceful that the Conservative government is suppressing its
own report into terrorist funding. We will not shy away from the
difficult conversations about who funds and supports terrorism.”
Tim
Farron, the Lib Dem leader, said May was only “posturing about
being tough on terror”. He added: “In her years as home secretary
she was willing to offer up the police for cut after cut. We have
been here before – a kind of nuclear arms race in terror laws might
give the appearance of action, but what the security services lack is
not more power, but more resources. And responsibility for that lies
squarely with Theresa May.”
The
London Bridge attack on Saturday night left seven people dead, and 15
remain in hospital in critical condition. Raids and searches of
properties in east London continue, but 12 others arrested as part of
inquiries into whether anyone else helped the attackers have been
released without charge.
TODAY’S COLUMN: Channel 4’s Jihadi Mind Games, UK Police State, State Regulation of Internet
6
June, 2017
This
week we cover new UK police state measures, General Election
strategies, postal ballot vote rigging, the ‘city state’ agenda,
Channel 4 covering up an embarrassing ‘Jihadi’ documentary while
inciting a religious reaction on their website this week. We also
cover the establishment using Stephen Fry’s to nudge state
efforts to regulate the internet, Putin in St. Petersberg, and much
more…
UK
Column co-anchors Brian
Gerrish and Mike
Robinson,
and joined by 21WIRE’s Patrick
Henningsen for today’s news
round-up. WATCH:
Farage says calls for internment camps for terrorist suspects could grow in Britain
People
in Britain may start to call for terrorist suspects to be put into
internment camps if something is not done to prevent further attacks
after three major incidents in three months, former UKIP leader Nigel
Farage says.
In
a debate on the right-wing Murdoch-owned Fox News, Farage discussed
the idea of suspects being rounded up and detained without trial.
Internment has rarely been used in the UK
Theresa May facilitated the Manchester bomber's training
As
Home Secretary, Theresa May ensured that counter-terror police were
overruled to allow the Manchester bomber and his father - a known
member of Al Qaeda's Libyan affiliate, the Libyan Islamic Fighting
Group - to train and fight in Libya. The same policy allowed
literally hundreds of 'subjects of interest' to shuttle back and
forth between Britain and the training camps and battlefields of
Libya and Syria as part of Britain's campaign to destroy those
states. As far as she and her government are concerned, the murdered
victims of the Manchester and London Bridge attacks are merely
collateral damage. Apparently this story is of no interest whatsoever
to any serious media outlet
Interventions
in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya have made atrocities on UK soil more
likely, majority of public believe
The
Deep State is fighting back. C/- the Telegraph. IF there was any justice hey'd be going after terrorist supporter, Sadiq Khan
Jeremy
Corbyn was monitored by undercover officers for two decades amid
fears that he was attempting to undermine democracy, the Telegraph
can disclose.
A
former special branch officer, who does not wish to be named, said
that the Labour leader was monitored because he was “deemed to be a
subversive”.
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