News & events

08-06-2018

The Home Office just launched a frightening new assault on democracy, and almost nobody noticed


In 2000, the UK passed the Terrorism Act 2000 – one of the most draconian pieces of legislation in its history. Now, the state wants even more power. The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill 2018 is a dangerous new development apparently aimed at further criminalising speech and dissent in the UK. It was first revealed on 6 June, with no debate. Its second reading is scheduled for 11 June 2018. - Mohamed Elmaazi, The Canary; 8 June 2018

Under the plans, the definition of “inviting support” for a banned group will include: "expressions of support that are reckless as to whether they will encourage others to support the organisation."

The offence of “collecting information likely to be useful to a terrorist” will now also cover “viewing or streaming of material online”.

And while the current penalty for these ‘offences’ is up to 10 years of imprisonment, the 2018 bill seeks to increase many maximum punishments of such ‘terror’ offences to 15 years.

Read more here.