Terror attacks unleash thorny debate on UK strategy

Astring of attacks claiming 34 lives in less than three months has sparked a tough debate about Britain’s counter-terror strategy and buffeted the country’s election campaign. After seven people were killed in central London on Saturday, less than a fortnight after 22 concert-goers were slain by a suicide bomber in Manchester, Prime Minister Theresa May declared “enough is enough” and sketched plans for tougher anti-terror measures.

She pointed to longer jail terms for terrorism offences, even minor ones, and said internet firms should deny extremism a place in which to breed.

Other proposals floated in the British press include electronically tagging or even interning extremists on watch lists, requiring proof of ID for unregistered SIM cards for mobile phones, and police background checks for people who want to rent a car immediately.

But after a one-day suspension of campaigning ahead of Thursday’s vote, May’s record has become a hot election issue.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on Monday called on May to quit, pointing to the loss of 20,000 police jobs, mostly during her six years as interior minister under David Cameron.

Labour has promised to recruit more police officers, adding to neighbourhood security that it sees as an essential element for counter-terror strategies.

Asked by ITV television if he backed the calls for May to resign, Corbyn said: “Indeed I would... We should never have cut the police numbers.”

Mark Garnett, a lecturer in politics at Lancaster University in northwest England, said Corbyn was trying to hit a sweet spot with just three days left before voting day.

“From Mrs May’s point of view, it’s very difficult for her to suggest anything radically different because of course she’s been in charge of security policy for the last seven years, either in overall charge or as home secretary,” he said.

“I think she’s terrible pressure.”

Outside the political arena, commentators say tackling radicalisation is a delicate challenge.

“If you intervene in Muslim communities, you may actually radicalise people. But if you don’t intervene in Muslim communities, then you may actually allow people to be radicalised,” said Steven Fielding, a professor of political history at Nottingham University.

Tougher laws and police powers may fail to prevent low-technology attacks, such as the two van-and-knives assaults that occurred in London, he said.

Britain already has a long roster of security tools, headed by so-called Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures, or TPims. Introduced in 2012 and toughened in 2015, TPims apply to people who are deemed a threat but absolutely under cannot be prosecuted or, in the case of foreigners, deported.

In November last year, lawmakers granted sweeping surveillance powers for the police and intelligence services.

Among other things, the law requires websites to keep customers’ browsing history for up to a year and gives legal footing to existing, but murky, powers such as the hacking of computers and mobile phones.

The rights watchdog Liberty denounced it as a “snooper’s charter” that authorised “totalitarian-style surveillance powers”.

“It’s very easy to say in front of No. 10, ‘enough is enough,’ but when it comes to precise measures, you might make things worse. And it’s very easy to say, ‘We need more police on the street because that might have stopped some of these things,’ but — really — would it?” asked Fielding. — AFP