Britain’s governing coalition has agreed that potential Jihadis who return to Britain from abroad should be forced to undergo a de-radicalisation programme when they arrive back in the UK.
The proposal is one of a series of measures agreed by the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats who form Britain’s coalition government. Also proposed is a new law to force airlines to share full passenger lists with police and security agencies, and plans to temporarily suspend to passports of UK citizens fighting for ISIS, preventing them from coming home.
According to the Sun, talks over the measures were “tense” and going on well into the night last night, ahead of the Prime Minister’s emergency statement in the House of Commons this afternoon.
The proposals come after the UK’s offical terror threat level was raised last week to severe, meaning that an attack is “highly likely”. Security sources have also said that there is a risk that ISIS sympathisers may perform a “marauding terrorist firearms attack” (MTFA), which involves opening fire in a crowded place with automatic weapons.
Although the Prime Minister is determined to plug any gaps in the UK’s defences, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is under pressure from senior members of his own party block any further clampdown. One former leader, Paddy Ashdown said that is was “the job of politicians to act but as jealous protectors of our liberties,” while another, Sir Menzies Campbell, said that stripping UK jihadis of their citizenship could “constitute illegality”.
Tight terror controls were scrapped in 2011 after the Deputy Prime Minister demanded that the government abolish Control Orders, replacing them with the less severe “Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures” (TPIMs).
Senior Labour MP Hazel Blears said: “Nick Clegg should get off his high horse and do something to protect the British people”.