Terrorism Bill

The 20th century was a century where this country had to deal with the challenges faced by the ““isms”” of communism and fascism. The people of this country were threatened by evil ideologies from abroad that were totalitarian in nature and that threatened the country with the conventional military might of armies, air forces and navies. In the 2lst century, we must deal with the challenges of globalisation and terrorism. Some months ago, I might have said international and global terrorism, but since 7 July, the fact that we witnessed here in London terrorist acts perpetrated by British citizens has moved the goalposts, and as the Prime Minister put it, the rules must change. The threat that we face is totalitarian in nature, but guerrilla-like in its methods. Again we face an evil ideology from abroad, a perverse extremist form of Islam. It is as extreme and perverse as some of the right-wing white supremacist sects in the United States, but it is one that has now chosen to wage war with any religious or racial group that does not follow its teachings. The hon. Member for Stone (Mr. Cash), with whose views I often disagree, particularly on Europe, was the first hon. Member, despite the hours of debate, to describe this as a war. Al-Qaeda is waging a war on secularism, tolerance, and racial and religious harmony. It is waging a war on Muslims in Iraq as well as on the people of all faiths and races from places as far apart as New York and Bali and as near as Madrid and London. The world in which we live is changing by the day. Affordable international air travel, the internet and even digital mobile phone technology have become the means of delivery of the poison of these people’s ideology or the power of their explosives. The threat had to be faced and I believe that the Bill is part of the developing armoury of legislation that must be deployed to counter the threat and provide for a more secure Britain. Today’s British society recognises the need for this legislation. Some civil liberties groups, Opposition Members and colleagues have genuine reservations about parts of the Bill, but I have none. Since the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, we have had the benign 1990s. Britain, and Europe in general, with the exception of the Balkans, have enjoyed relative peace and stability. Until 11 September 2001, we had come to expect economic growth, high employment, low interest rates and modern creature comforts as things that we all deserved, and the vast majority of people had hopes, expectations and a general feeling of security. Today, however, people have fears as well as aspirations because of the nature of the threat that we face. The Bill deals with those threats in a balanced and reasonable way that is a large step in the right direction. In order to stop the spread of this poisonous ideology, the glorification of terrorism is be outlawed, as is praising or celebrating terrorist acts. Good, I say.