British government yesterday rolled out tough measures to contain the activities of terrorists in the country.
Prime Minister, David Cameron, who announced the measures, said they included the powers to seize the passports of terrorist suspects and stop British jihadists from returning to the United Kingdom.
It was “abhorrent” British citizens had “declared their allegiance” to groups like Islamic State, Mr. Cameron told Members of Parliament, MPs.
He said: “Specific and discretionary” powers were needed to bar suspected UK terrorists from returning home, to fill what was “a gap in the UK’s armoury.”
According to agency reports, Cameron said powers to monitor suspects in the UK would also be strengthened.
The UK’s terror threat level was raised to “severe” from “substantial” last Friday.
The prime minister told MPs that developments in the Middle East over recent months had major implications for the UK’s security, with 500 British nationals estimated to have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight on behalf of Islamic State and other militant groups.
He said the whole world had been “sickened and shocked” by the killing of US journalist James Foley and other atrocities in Iraq.
While rejecting calls for “sweeping and blanket” new laws in response, he said a “forensic focus” was needed to prevent people from travelling abroad in the first place and to deal with the threat of fighters returning to the UK from conflict zones.
Among measures announced by Cameron are a legislation to give the police new statutory powers to confiscate the passports of suspect terrorists at UK borders.
Others are the UK will challenge any attempt by the courts to water down these powers.
Plans to block suspected British terrorists from returning to the UK will be drawn up on a “cross-party basis”
Terrorism prevention and investigation measures (Tpims) will be extended, to include the power to relocate suspects
· Airlines will be forced to hand over more information about passengers travelling to and from conflict zones.
The Home Secretary already has executive powers to seize passports in certain cases but Mr. Cameron said the police needed greater discretion to act where needed.
“We will introduce specific and targeted legislation… providing the police with a temporary power to seize a passport at the border during which time they will be able to investigate the individual concerned,” he said.