Calls for restoration of control orders

There were calls for the restoration of control orders for terror suspects in the wake of the latest attack.

Prime Minister Theresa May has promised to review the UK’s counterterrorism strategy, with the prospect of enhanced powers for police and security services and tougher jail sentences for extremists.

Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, she promised to ensure services have “all the powers they need” to tackle a “more complex, more fragmented and more hidden” threat.

And she indicated that courts could be given powers to impose harsher punishments not only on the terrorists themselves but also those guilty of “apparently less serious” offences.

But there was no immediate guidance on specific measures that may be put forward after the general election if the PM retains power.

The former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Lord Carlile of Berriew, predicted that the first item on the agenda in any review would be the reintroduction of control orders – replaced by the less stringent Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures in 2011.

Introduced by Tony Blair in 2005, the orders – which allowed suspects to be relocated away from their home communities, subjected to 16-hour home-arrest curfews and barred from using mobile phones or the internet – had won the support of the courts and “may have saved a lot of lives”, said the crossbench peer.

Firm proposals for Mrs May’s review are expected to be drawn up, taking account of the changing nature of the threat displayed at Westminster, Manchester and London Bridge.