UK new counter-terrorism bill to challenge terrorism, preserve national security

Nahla Abdelmonem

European states seek to introduce the right legal framework that allow them to counter terrorism without violating constitutional or human rights; in this regard, the British government said on Tuesday that it would toughen terrorism sentences and end early release for serious offenders

Under the new legislation, which could be introduced in Parliament this spring, terrorism offenders would serve a minimum of 14 years in prison.

Moreover, the number of probation officers specializing in counter-terrorism would be doubled, and the counter-terrorist police would receive a 10 percent funding increase, according to the British Home Office, the government department responsible for policing and national security.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the government had faced “hard truths” since an attack in London in November.

Convicted terror offender Usman Khan had been on license from prison when he fatally stabbed Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt at Fishmongers’ Hall near London Bridge on 29 November last year.

Khan had been released from jail on license in 2018, half-way through a 16-year sentence for terrorism offenses.

Following the attack, the government launched an urgent review into the license conditions of 74 terror offenders who had been released early from prison.

“Today we are delivering on those promises, giving police and probation officers the resources they need to investigate and track offenders, introducing tougher sentences, and launching major reviews into how offenders are managed after they are released,” Patel added.

Some may view the recent amendments as a standard procedure for partisan conflicts, however, the British situation is different as over the past years the Kingdom faced many problems regarding the loose anti-terrorism law and its provisions on the release of extremists and the deterrent penalties against perpetrators of terrorist attacks.

One of these dilemmas was brought to light after the case of a pair of British militants who were part of a Daesh terror cell known as the ‘Beatles’ who left the UK to Syria and then removed from Syria and taken into US custody.

The British Home Office then justified its position them with national security problems because British law does not give the kingdom the right to execute those involved in murder cases.

After extremist preacher Anjem Choudary was released from prison in Britain on October 19, the British government realized he still has extremist thoughts, however, he had to be legally released.

To overcome the crisis, the government decided to implement a psychological and social program known as “DB” to try to tackle the Chaudhry case. Therefore, Choudary and other persistent activists will remain under close government surveillance following their release from prison, banned from using the internet and subjected to curfew.