It is a pleasure to follow the thoughtful intervention speech by my hon. Friend the Member for North Norfolk (Duncan Baker).
It was a privilege to serve on the Public Bill Committee. As someone who lived in London in the 1980s and ’90s, I remember all too well the impact of terrorism on this nation’s capital. A massive lorry bomb was left outside the London overground station at the bottom of my
then street in Bethnal Green and the local policeman, whom I knew, discovered it. We must not forget the emotional toll on frontline officers of dealing with such terrorist incidents; he has to live with that for the rest of his life. There are other parts of the Union that have to live with it more frequently. We all need to work together as one nation to deal with these issues. There are many human stories, with which we sympathise.
Serving on a Committee examining the proposed legislation seeking to counter terrorism was an interesting challenge, but a privilege. I thank the Minister for how he steered the Committee through the issues covered in the legislation. In Committee, I found the interventions of my hon. Friends the Members for Hertford and Stortford (Julie Marson), for Aylesbury (Rob Butler) and for Sevenoaks (Laura Trott) very useful in dealing with the issues. It was also very interesting to hear what my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Joanna Cherry), the hon. Member for Stockton North (Alex Cunningham) and my hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Laura Trott) had to say in Committee meetings, and the contributions of all those other Members who sit in this Chamber today.
Having considered all the evidence, done my research and read back over the years, it is my clear view that the overwhelming weight of the evidence heard by the Bill Committee sessions was that the provisions of this Bill will make the public safer and will greater enable us to defeat terrorism and contain former terrorists.
This law is proportionate in what it seeks to do in relation to the rights of prisoners. Of course, we need to keep our people safe. The Opposition’s request for further reviews and delays is not proportionate with what we need to do today.
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Our democratic society has had to live in the shadow of terrorism for a long time. We saw that with the Manchester Arena attack, Fishmongers’ Hall, Streatham and Reading, and of course Members sitting here today will recall the attack on this Parliament in 2017. We must always remember the death of PC Keith Palmer.
Jonathan Hall QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, stated in March that the 2017 terrorist attacks were a sustained shift in the nature of the risk of Islamist terrorism. We need to respond to that shift to protect our people. We need to respond to everyday events to ensure that our people are safe.
During the Bill Committee evidence session, we heard from assistant chief constable Tim Jacques, the deputy senior national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism policing. He confirmed that he welcomed the provisions in the Bill, and said that, overall, it would make policing terrorism easier for the police. That is what we are here for—to make jobs easier but safe, to look at human rights proportionately and to preserve life. This legislation will undoubtedly also protect us from terrorism threats from fascist and national socialist extremists. There are times when we look at the rights of prisoners, and public protection must trump rehabilitation. Assistant chief constable Tim Jacques also said that.
We must also take a moment from time to time to bear in mind the cynical terrorist warning. In the acts of murder and mayhem that terrorists plan, they have to be lucky only once, whereas we, the democrats, have to be lucky all the time.
This legislation will assist the police and security services, and give them the tools they need. It will tighten up the law and go a long way towards addressing the threat. It seeks to protect the public from those convicted of terrorist offences, who will inevitably spend longer in custody. That time can be used, if possible, to rehabilitate, but we must not look with rose-tinted glasses at how we can change the world and terrorists. Sometimes they cannot be changed and have to be managed. The Bill will keep the most dangerous terrorists off the streets for longer.
I welcome the fact that the most serious terrorism offences will be subject to 14 years’ in prison and the extended licence of 25 years. That is an essential provision in the legislation. The Bill will deter involvement with terrorist movements at source by increasing the maximum sentences available. That, too, is an essential provision. I also welcome—