Latest news with #JonathanHall
The Sun
27-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Liverpool car horror proves police transparency must always apply — whoever is to blame
Open justice WHEN an incident unfolds as shocking and horrific as the car ramming at Liverpool FC's trophy parade, the public has a right to know as much information as possible, as quickly as possible. Following Axel Rudakubana's murderous rampage in Southport last July, silence from the authorities allowed conspiracy theory, rumour and deliberate disinformation to fester online. 1 This, in turn, fuelled terrible scenes of violence and destructive riots. By revealing the ethnicity and age of the arrested suspect in the Liverpool incident within two hours - and swiftly ruling out terrorism - the police stopped malicious or kneejerk attempts to spread false narratives. They were right to do so, and local politicians have expressed their support for the decision. It's a welcome step back from recent sinister attempts by police and Government to muzzle our free press. But the real test of our authorities' new-found spirit of sensible openness will come the next time there is a tragic incident or terrorist attack. As Jonathan Hall, the Government's terror law reviewer, points out: 'The lesson has been learnt, don't give any fuel to the conspiracy merchants. 'You've got to roll with it. 'If it had been a Muslim, an Asian, a black man or woman, they would have to say that. 'You've got to be fully consistent.' Having now embraced transparency, the public will not understand why they shouldn't always be given the full picture by the cops. Whatever that may be. E-bike blitz So Government moves to crush mopeds, bikes and e-scooters used by criminal yobs within 48 hours rather than weeks to curb re-offending should be applauded. Just one problem: how does this get-tough approach sit with Labour's prison reforms. After all, they will mean thugs convicted of crimes which should attract a 12 months sentence are now a lot less likely to go to jail? Reform rebirth BRITAIN isn't having enough kids. Instead, we have come to rely on importing more and more young workers from overseas in a faltering bid to get the economy growing, and pay the bills for our ageing society.
The Sun
27-05-2025
- General
- The Sun
Keir Starmer refuses to back calls for transparency over race of arrested suspects to stop misinformation
THE PM has refused to back calls for across-the-board transparency over the race of arrested suspects. Sir Keir Starmer insisted it was a 'matter for the police' after top cops in Liverpool took just two hours to say their car-rampage suspect was white and British. Experts said Merseyside Police were correct to quickly release the details and forces must stick to the approach in future. It follows huge criticism of the failure to give accurate and timely information about Axel Rudakubana, who killed three young girls in Southport last year. Riots and violence took place across Britain as misinformation was allowed to spread online. Jonathan Hall, the UK's independent reviewer of terror laws, said the new approach was the right one. He added: 'The lesson has been learnt, don't give any fuel to the conspiracy merchants. 'If it had been a Muslim, an Asian, a black man or woman, they would have to say that. You've got to be fully consistent.' Online clips led to speculation a terror attack had taken place. No10 repeated the release of the suspect's details were a matter for the police
Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
SNP's independence fever dream is a boon for malign forces
Scotland is a battlefield. Not just in the political sense of a clash of parties vying for power. Nor the constitutional sense of arguments over independence. I am talking about a battlefield where malign foreign powers attempt to undermine our democracy. Don't take my word for it. Listen instead to Jonathan Hall KC, the UK's independent reviewer of legislation on terrorism and state threats. In a lecture this week at the Policy Exchange he asked us to imagine what we would do if we were a spy intent on ripping apart the social fabric of British society. 'If I was a foreign intelligence officer of course I would meddle in separatism, whether Scottish independence or independence of overseas territories or Brexit,' he said. 'I
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
UK to proscribe state-backed groups such as Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Ministers will draw up new laws to ban state-backed groups such as Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the face of growing 'complex' threats from foreign powers, Yvette Cooper said on Monday. The home secretary made the announcement after three Iranian nationals were charged on Saturday with spying in the UK. It also comes after Jonathan Hall KC, the government's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, on Monday called for new legislation needed to combat foreign actors who exploit 'freedom and openness' in the UK to sow division. Cooper told MPs the charges have come against a 'backdrop of rising numbers of Iran-linked operations on UK soil where there have been repeated warnings by ministers, the police and our security and intelligence agencies'. State-backed groups are exploiting the activity of criminals and terrorists to undermine the UK and its laws, she said. 'As well as growing, those threats are becoming more interconnected, and the old boundaries between state threats, terrorists and organised criminals are being eroded. 'We have seen malign foreign state organisations seek to exploit any vulnerability from criminal networks, to our cybersecurity, to our borders to do us harm,' she added. In her Commons statement, Cooper said the government will create a new power of proscription 'to cover state threats, ''a power that is stronger than current National Security Act powers in allowing us to restrict the activity and operations of foreign state-backed organisations in the UK, including new criminal offences'. Cooper said Hall had reported there were 'gaps in a series of areas, including on proscribing legislation where he identifies a series of legal difficulties in using powers that were designed to deal with terrorist groups for state and state-backed organisations, such as the IRGC'. In Monday's review, Hall concluded that the Terrorism Act 2000 was never intended to regulate the behaviour of state actors, and said looking at that law as a way to proscribe state bodies is 'quite simply shopping in the wrong department'. The security services said in October that the police and MI5 had responded to 20 Iran backed plots presenting potentially lethal threats. Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Lisa Smart asked how cuts to the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget would enable malign states to use 'their soft power to influence events overseas'. 'We know we live in a perilous world with war on our continent and we Liberal Democrats welcome the increase in defence spending. However, the decision to take this money from the ODA budget will leave a vacuum in some of the most vulnerable places,' she said.
The National
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Britain to tackle growing Iran danger with new laws on state threats
Britain will introduce new laws to allow the security services to proscribe state-based groups such as Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Home Secretary has said. Following the arrests of eight Iranians allegedly involved in a plot to attack the Israeli embassy, Yvette Cooper told MPs that Britain would 'not tolerate growing state-backed threats on UK soil'. In what is a significant diplomatic low between the two countries, the Home Secretary said the new legislation comes against a 'backdrop of rising numbers of Iran-linked operations' on UK soil. 'The Iranian regime poses an unacceptable threat to our domestic security which cannot continue,' she told MPs. The new legislation will cover state-based threats rather than terrorist organisations, which would be tougher than the current National Security Act. The move comes after Jonathan Hall, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, reported 'gaps in a series of areas' including on proscribing legislation where there was 'a series of legal difficulties' in using powers that were designed to deal with terrorist groups for state-backed organisations, such as the IRGC. Ms Cooper said Mr Hall's recommendations would be followed up with 'new powers, modelled on counter-terrorism powers' to tackle the state threats. 'We will create a new power of proscription to cover state threats, a power that is stronger than current National Security Act powers in allowing us to restrict the activity and operations of foreign state-backed organisations in the UK.' She also confirmed that three of the Iranians charged with terror offences came to the UK by lorry and small boat between 2016 and 2022, and that the UK would introduce stronger security measures, with counter-terrorism powers used at the border. Earlier on Monday the Iranian ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office and given an official dressing down, it was confirmed. Ms Cooper added that Foreign Secretary David Lammy would tell the Iranian Foreign Minister 'in the strongest terms that the UK will not accept any Iranian state threat activity in the UK'. The British charge d'affaires in Tehran was summoned earlier due to the arrests. Ms Cooper also said that 'MI5 state threats investigations have increased by nearly 50 per cent in a year'. She told MPs: 'As well as growing, those threats are becoming more interconnected, and the old boundaries between state threats, terrorists and organised criminals are being eroded. On Saturday, three Iranian nationals were charged with offences under the National Security Act 2023 of engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service. They were also charged with surveillance, reconnaissance and open research with the intention to commit acts of serious violence against a person in the United Kingdom. The foreign state to which these charges relate was Iran and those charged are the first Iranian nationals to be charged under the National Security Act. Ms Cooper said Prime Minister Keir Starmer had committed to publishing a new national security strategy.
