UK Parliament / Open data

Terrorism Bill

My hon. Friend the Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) makes an important point about the way in which the clause could be interpreted. The Minister said in reply to the hon. Member for Buckingham (John Bercow) that other legislation could deal with people who made financial donations, but that would not prevent someone from committing more than one crime through the same act. If the Government have drawn the clause too widely, a person could be caught both by it and other measures. Subsection (3) seems to suggest that a person who commits an offence under the clause will face a mandatory life sentence. Why did the Government think that the sentence should be mandatory? Will the Minister clarify why the courts should not have more discretion to consider the weight of sentence for such a crime?
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
438 c1002-3 
Session
2005-06
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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