Terrorism laws

Terrorism laws: 'Time is right' for new police powers

24 November 2014 Last updated at 12:07

Theresa May: "We are engaged in a struggle that will go on for many years"

The "time is right" for police, security and intelligence agencies to be given more powers to defend the UK, Home Secretary Theresa May has said.

Unveiling a new counter-terrorism bill, Mrs May said the UK was in a security struggle "on many fronts".

Under the bill, UK-based insurance companies are to be banned from covering the cost of terrorist ransoms.

Mrs May said the package, which she hopes to fast-track through Parliament, was "properly considered".

The home secretary is setting out parts of the Counter Terrorism and Security Bill - which will be introduced to Parliament on Wednesday - in a speech at a counter-terrorism event in London.

By banning insurance companies from covering ransoms, the government hopes firms and families will be deterred from paying kidnappers.

Ministers maintain that paying ransoms encourages kidnapping, and it says Islamic State militants are taking hostages to fund their operations.

The ban is one of several measures proposed in response to the terror threat.

The UK's terror threat level was raised from "substantial" to "severe" earlier this year in response to conflicts in Iraq and Syria.

Analysis

Authorities say more than 500 Britons have joined Islamic State

By Dominic Casciani, BBC home affairs correspondent

For a decade, British security and intelligence agencies have tried to counter threats from individuals inspired by al-Qaeda's ideology.

They're worried that the emergence of the so-called Islamic State has made that job far harder.

Twice before - in the wake of 9/11 and 7/7 - they asked ministers for more powers.

Each time there has been a difficult debate about the balance between those powers and personal liberties.

This coming bill - which is aimed at disrupting extremist activity - will face the same questions.

Against that background, a "Counter-terrorism Awareness Week" has something of a "Dig for Victory" spirit about it as the government and security chiefs seek public support ahead of potentially controversial legislation.

But PR tactics aside, the appeal is very squarely focused on the brutal fact that the police don't believe they can do this job alone.

The Home Office said current laws criminalised terrorist financing but there had been an element of "uncertainty" about whether insurers were prohibited from paying claims made by companies and families who had met ransom demands.

It said the Terrorism Act 2000 would now be amended to make it an explicit offence for insurers to reimburse such payments.

Mrs May will outline the proposed legislation in a speech

Other measures which will be part of the Counter Terrorism and Security Bill include:

• Allowing the cancellation of the passports of suspects who are overseas, so they can only return to the UK on the government's terms
• Changes to TPIMs - Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures - to allow the authorities to force suspects to move to another part of the country
• Making it compulsory for public bodies like schools, colleges and prisons to work to prevent terrorism
• Forcing firms to hand details to police identifying who was using a computer or mobile phone at a given time

The Liberal Democrats said it was "good news" that the Home Office had "finally got round" to producing plans to give police powers to find out who was using a phone or computer at a certain time.

Public help

Mrs May was speaking at the start of a week-long police initiative - Counter-terrorism Awareness Week - involving more than 3,000 officers, to remind the public how they can help fight terrorism.

More than 6,000 people at schools, universities, airports, shopping centres, cinemas and farms across the UK will be briefed by counter-terror officers.

Police officers and theatre groups will be speaking to students about the Prevent strategy, which provides practical help to people who may be drawn into terrorism.

Officers will also be providing counter-terrorism information to passengers and staff at railway stations.

Also speaking earlier, Britain's counter-terrorism chief has warned that police officers alone "cannot combat" the threat of extremism.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley - the Association of Chief Police Officers' national policing lead for counter-terrorism - said: "So far this year, we have disrupted several attack plots and made 271 arrests but the eyes and ears of law enforcement and other agencies alone cannot combat the threat."

The threat posed by violent extremists has "evolved" and is no longer a problem solely stemming from countries like Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Now, they are home grown, in our communities, radicalised by images and messages they read on social media and prepared to kill for their cause," he said.

He said "nearly half" of those from the UK joining Islamic State, a militant group which has taken control of large areas of Syria and Iraq, were "recently radicalised and weren't previously on our radar".

On Sunday, the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police told the BBC that four or five terror plots had been stopped this year.

Police have previously prevented on average one plot a year, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said.

Original post here : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30173238