John Redwood

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Redwood Questions PM on Terror threats

John Redwood asked the Prime  Minister about the allegations that there are thirty plots in the making by terrorists in the UK. The speech by the Head of the Intelligence Services was unprecedented, trying to worry people in the UK about the extent of the threat to us all.

John said after the exchange:

" If it is true that so many people are plotting the deaths of Uk citizens, the authorities should move quickly to arrest these people and put them on trial. If they do not have sufficient evidence to do this they should make collecting evidence or discovering they are wrong an urgent priority. It is not good enough that the government issues regular blood curdling warnings, but does not bring the people it fears to court to stand trial. MPs have helped the government amend the terror laws more than once, so by now the government should be able to do what it needs to do to make us safer. We said last time the government considered changing the law that allowing intercept evidence in court would help, as having a tape recording or an email from someone saying he or she is planning a murderous attack would be good evidence for any court to consider. It is quite possible to do this without compromising the security services."

Extract from Hansard:

Mr. John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con): Before the Prime Minister moves on from terrorism, if the head of the security forces is right that there are so many people in this country that represent a potential threat, why is evidence not collected and why are they not brought to trial?

The Prime Minister: Of course we collect evidence and we do bring them to trial. But for the very reason that we introduced stronger measures on terrorism—at a time when, if I remember, I was accused of scaremongering when I said that this was a severe problem in the country—we have to consider measures again now, precisely because of that threat. I hope that we can put together measures that will be based on the advice of the police and the security services, and that if we do bring forward those measures, the right hon. Gentleman and his colleagues will support them this time.