Counter-Terrorism Bill

Not at the moment. Lord Condon—another name for the Home Secretary to play with—the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, has warned against the proposal:"““I fear that it will play into the… hands of the propagandists, who will encourage young men and women to be misguided, brainwashed and induced into acts of martyrdom.””" The second risk is that extended detention without charge alienates the local community. That cuts off the vital local intelligence, which is crucial to our counter-terrorism effort. Peter Clarke, who was, until his recent retirement, probably the most highly regarded counter-terrorism officer in the country said:"““We must increase the flow of intelligence coming from communities. Almost all our prosecutions have their origins in intelligence that came from overseas, the intelligence agencies or from technical means. Few have yet originated from… 'community intelligence'””." Will another extension of pre-charge detention increase the flow of community intelligence? We can read the Home Office's impact assessment, which was published with the Bill:"““Muslim groups said that pre charge detention may risk information being forthcoming from members of the community in the future.””" Those are the Home Office's words about the Bill. The evidence available shows that extending detention without charge will hinder, not help, our counter-terrorism efforts. Perhaps the greatest risk of all is that prolonged detention without charge does the terrorists' job for them. Lord Dear describes 42 days as a ““propaganda coup for al-Qaeda””. Al-Qaeda wants to undermine our freedoms and way of life. Extended detention is the first step on the road towards its ultimate objective of undermining our democracy. That is why, for all the tough talk, this draconian measure is a sign of weakness, not strength. The Home Secretary says that her proposals will be activated only when both the police and the Crown Prosecution Service request it. That is supposed to be the first check on the process.