BeyondHeadlines News Desk
The passing of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill into law today is a disturbing development that further erodes the already battered edifice of civil liberties in the UK.
The new legislation follows a well-established pattern of using terrorist attacks as a pretext to introduce more powers for the executive that in many cases are discriminatory, counter productive and wholly unnecessary.
The new Act has NOT undergone extensive public scrutiny as per government claims and in fact the normal public consultation has been used as a cover for driving through the new laws almost entirely as they were originally presented to Parliament. IHRC believes that the government is now cynically using anti-terrorism law consultations to legitimise what is effectively a pre-decided outcome. It is for this reason that along with other civil liberties campaign groups, IHRC decided last month not to engage in any further public consultations on terrorism laws.
Amongst the Act’s most disconcerting elements is introduction of a legal duty on GP’s, teachers and other professionals to report those they suspect of being involved in terrorism. The new law effectively incorporates them into the security apparatus and will mean that individuals will be monitored, on behalf of the state, starting as early as nursery age. Needless to say IHRC is deeply concerned about the potential breakdown of trust and confidence that this may engender if individuals start to see professionals as government spies.
The new laws also include a category of ‘thought crime’ in the introduction of local panels to prepare a plan for those at risk of so-called radicalisation.
The government will also now have the power to seize passports of those it suspects are travelling for terrorist purposes. Again this has huge implications for innocent travellers who are now liable to be detained at ports if they ‘look like a terrorist’ or are travelling to destinations such as Turkey and Lebanon that are deemed to be staging posts for terrorism.
