Terrorists refuse to deradicalise

THE Government may have to give up on reforming some terrorists, says its adviser on anti-terror laws, as it emerged high-security prisoners have refused to join a flagship deradicalisation programme.

Data released under freedom of information laws have revealed 15 inmates at high-security prisons including Belmarsh, Wakefield and Frankland have refused to enrol in the Government’s main deradicalisation programme since January 2018.

Jonathan Hall QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said: “We may have to accept that some offenders – and I emphasise some – can never be reformed although that doesn’t mean reform should be discounted for others.”

He said it was right to expect prisoners to “address the causes of their offending” but to do this, the authorities including prison, police and probation needed “carrots and sticks”.

The Government’s proposed new anti-terror laws, currently before Parliament, removed “one of those carrots entirely” by denying the most dangerous the prospect of early release.

They will instead be required to serve a minimum of 14 years with no prospect of parole before being released under licence for up 25 years.

“This may reflect a perception that encouraging reform for these offenders is less important than it was considered previously,” said Mr Hall.

According to the latest government figures, 224 prisoners are serving sentences for terror-related crimes. Of those, 173 are Islamist extremists.