Home Secretary says ‘gap in law' on violent attackers will be closed
Yvette Cooper said the new tools will enable the criminal justice system to 'close the gap' between terror suspects, who can be jailed for life for planning attacks, and individuals not driven by a particular ideology.
Police would be given powers to apprehend them before they carry out attacks.
Ms Cooper told BBC Radio 4's State of Terror series: 'There is a gap in the law around the planning of mass attacks that can be just as serious (as terrorism) in their implications for communities, their impact, the devastation that they can cause and the seriousness of the crime.
'We will tighten legislation so that that is taken as seriously as terrorism.'
She said legislation would be similar to that which allows police to arrest terror suspects for steps taken to prepare for an attack, such as research, which is not currently available without links to an ideological cause.
'We've seen cases of growing numbers of teenagers potentially radicalising themselves online and seeing all kinds of extremist material online in their bedrooms,' she said.
'We have to make sure that the systems can respond while not taking our eye off the ball of the more long-standing ideological threats.'
Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana, who killed three girls at a dance class, is among the individuals who could have been covered by the legislation.
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The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Inquiry launched to uncover truth behind violent clashes at Orgreave miners' strike
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Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
UK to hold inquiry into miners strike 'Battle of Orgreave' four decades on
LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - Britain said on Monday it would hold an inquiry into the "Battle of Orgreave", a violent confrontation between police and striking coal miners in 1984 at the height of a year-long industrial dispute with Margaret Thatcher's government. More than 5,000 striking miners clashed with a similar number of riot police who had been drafted in from across the country at the Orgreave coking plant near Sheffield in northern England. It was one of the most violent scenes witnessed during a British industrial dispute, and also a pivotal moment in the strike, launched against Thatcher's moves to close money-losing pits. The miners ultimately lost the broader fight to save their industry. The police have long faced accusations of brutality and using excessive violence at Orgreave on June 18, 1984. TV footage showed charges by officers on horseback and one miner being repeatedly struck on the head with a baton. More than 120 people were injured and 95 miners initially arrested and charged with riot and violent disorder. Those charges were all later dropped after the evidence was dismissed. Campaigners have for years demanded to know who was responsible for the deployment of the large number of police and their tactics, as well as what happened to some official documents. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper - Britain's interior minister whose Labour party was in opposition at the time of the strike - said an inquiry headed by Pete Wilcox, the Bishop of Sheffield, would be held to find out the truth. "The violent scenes and subsequent prosecutions raised concerns that have been left unanswered for decades, and we must now establish what happened," she said. Kate Flannery, the Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign Secretary, said they needed to be sure that the inquiry had the powers to have unrestricted access to all government and police papers. "We have waited a long time for this day and this is really positive news," she said.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Battle of Orgreave national inquiry confirmed by Yvette Cooper
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