Yvette Cooper MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responding to the unravelling of the Government’s terrorism proposals, said:
“The Government’s anti-terror proposals are in complete disarray. This chaos is a disgraceful way to develop something as important as national security policy.
“On Friday David Cameron claimed he was about to introduce new policies, he briefed lots of measures over the weekend, and now every single one of them seems to be unravelling. If he hadn’t worked it out, why on earth did he call a press conference and make big announcements?
“Over the weekend, the Government said they intended to block suspected British terrorists from returning to the UK. Yesterday they admitted they had to comply with international law and could not remove citizenship after all. But the Prime Minister still claimed to have vague plans to stop people even though no one at all can explain what he is talking about.
“Yesterday the Prime Minister said the Government would finally respond to calls from the Labour Party and the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism, David Anderson, and would reintroduce relocation powers. However, today the Deputy Prime Minister has said his Party does not support such a measure and is looking at alternative options
“Yesterday the Government said it will draw up new legislation to allow the police to confiscate passports of suspected terrorists. But the independent Reviewer has said there is no detail on how this will work in practice.
“And there is still no timetable for any of these changes to be made, or when any legislation might be brought in.
“We have been calling consistently for three years for the Government to restore relocation powers for dangerous terror suspects, and to strengthen Prevent to work with communities.
“The Prime Minister has resisted these evidence based reforms for a long time and instead appears to be trying to make policy on the hoof for the sake of short term headlines. This is not good enough.
“On something this serious, where national security, democracy and liberty are at stake David Cameron can’t just play with headlines, he needs to deliver on the detail. The safety of our country is too important to be left to this kind of chaotic and political approach.”
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