Wow, the latest Tory press release is a long one. Can't knock them for their depth of research, I guess.
Starmer shows again that Corbyn doesn’t support anti-terror legislation
In a revealing gaffe this morning, Jeremy Corbyn’s top lawyer and shadow Brexit sectary Kier Starmer tried to defend Corbyn’s record on terror but when asked to give an example of anti-terror legislation that Corbyn had supported, Starmer cited a measure that Corbyn did not vote for.
Starmer gave the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 as an example of Jeremy Corbyn supporting the fight against terror, but was embarrassed live on air when it was revealed the Labour leader had not even voted for Starmer’s example, nor had the Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott on its reading a year ago today.
Commenting, Secretary of State for International Development, Priti Patel said:
“Kier Starmer has unwittingly highlighted what Labour are desperate to hide: Jeremy Corbyn’s record of undermining the safety and security of Britain. Corbyn has boasted about voting against every piece of anti-terrorist legislation in the past thirty years, he has sided with Britain’s enemies and he has shared platforms with speakers who espouse hatred and views that have no place in our society . The first duty of a Prime Minister is to keep the country safe and act in the national interest, it’s simply not good enough to refuse to give the police the powers they need or to go missing in action like his shadow home secretary Diane Abbott.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
· Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott did not support the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 – which renewed the security services’ powers to access the communications of terrorists and serious criminals
· Corbyn and Abbott both abstained in the Third Reading of the Bill in June 2016 – despite Labour’s official position being to support it (Hansard, 7 June 2016, Cols. 1156-1159, link).
· Diane Abbott blogged the day before the vote that strengthening the power of MI5 in this way counted as ‘snooping’. ‘The Home Secretary tells us that the secret services need this power to snoop on anyone to save lives but keeps to herself the impact that mass surveillance has on protecting us and has never provided a detailed and evidence-based public justification for its necessity’ (Diane Abbott’s website, 6 June 2016, link).
Sir Keir Starmer anti-terror legislation – GMB – 07.06.2017 (verbatim)
Sir Keir Starmer: Last year, we had the investigatory Powers Bill, which was a bill bringing together all the powers of the security intelligence services in terms of surveillance and everything that they do. I led the Labour Party on that. And we supported that bill. We had amendments which strengthened that bill and the Labour Party ... (Interrupted)
Susanna Reid: Where was Jeremy Corbyn in that vote?
Sir Keir Starmer: The Labour Party had a ... (Interrupted)
Susanna Reid: Where was Jeremy Corbyn in that vote?
Sir Keir Starmer: …three line whip ... (Interrupted)
Susanna Reid: Where was Jeremy Corbyn in that vote?
Pier Morgan: What did Corbyn do?
Sir Keir Starmer: As far as I know, Jeremy voted. Certainly the Labour Party had a three line whip on it, and I led for that on it and we worked with the Prime Minister to ensure ... (Interrupted)
Susanna Reid: When you say ‘as far as you know Jeremy Corbyn voted, did he vote?
Sir Keir Starmer: That is now ... (Interrupted)
Susanna Reid: Did you vote for it Keir Starmer?
Sir Keir Starmer: It was a three line whip. I have not before coming on this programme gone through the list of who went through the lobby on the particular amendments and issues on that bill to be perfectly on it.
Susanna Reid: You’d want to know if your leader had voted for it though wouldn’t you?
Sir Keir Starmer: He was the leader of the party who imposed a three line whip on it.
Piers Morgan: He’s the leader of a party that wants to renew the Trident nuclear programme, and yet he himself doesn’t believe in it, wouldn’t support it, and would never press the button. The problem is, come Friday, he might be the guy who has to press the button.
Sir Keir Starmer: But we’re talking here about the really serious issue ... (Interrupted)
LATER
Susanna Reid: Can I just ask one last question? You said you voted to support the investigatory Powers Act 2016.
Sir Keir Starmer: Not just voted, I led the debate for Labour on it.
Susanna Reid: You led the debate, it’s a three line whip. According to my brief, Jeremy Corbyn was absent from the vote.
Sir Keir Starmer: Well I mean I don’t know. You know better than I do. I haven’t gone through the voting lists.
Susanna Reid: It's not massively encouraging is it? The one thing you cited as evidence of Jeremy Corbyn actually promoting anything which might toughen terror laws was actually a thing he couldn’t be bothered to turn up and vote for.
Sir Keir Starmer: Well I don’t know that. I mean ... (Interrupted)
Piers Morgan: You’ve just been told it.
Sir Keir Starmer: Jeremy was leading the party. I led for the party on it. We imposed the three line whip. And we went through the lobbies to support ... (Interrupted)
Susanna Reid: Jeremy Corbyn wasn’t there and he’s the leader of your party.
Sir Keir Starmer: He may have been paired on that occasion - I really don't know.
Susanna Reid: But you gave that as an example of Jeremy Corbyn not voting against everything.
Sir Keir Starmer: This is Jeremy Corbyn leading the Labour Party that asked me to lead on a bill where we imposed a three line ... (Interrupted)
Piers Morgan: But the one example Keir Starmer that you chose to illustrate him not voting against terror legislation, actually it turned out he didn't vote in favour of terror legislation. So you get our point that we do not feel very comforted by this.
Sir Keir Starmer: Well this is the leader of the Labour Party who imposed a three line whip on all MPs for that bill which I was leading ... (Interrupted)
Susanna Reid: And didn’t vote himself.
Sir Keir Starmer: I don’t know why not. MPs are paired as you know all the time depending on what else they’re doing on any particular day. I don’t know the circumstances. If Jeremy had not supported it, he certainly wouldn’t have imposed a three line whip on it ... (Interrupted)
Piers Morgan: Jeremy hasn’t supported any terrorism legislation ever by the look of it.
Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott’s track record of voting against anti-terror legislation
1984: Prevention of Terrorism Act
· Jeremy Corbyn voted against the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Hansard, Col. 52 – 116, 24 October 1983, link).
1985: Prevention of Terrorism Act
· Jeremy Corbyn voted against the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Hansard, Col. 1299 – 320, 21 February 1985, link).
1988: Prevention of Terrorism Act
· Jeremy Corbyn voted against the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Hansard, Col. 207 - 74, 6 December 1988, link).
Elected Authorities (Northern Ireland) Act 1989
· Tom King (Secretary of State for Northern Ireland): ‘The most controversial part of the Bill concerns the declaration against terrorism. Clauses 3 and 5 provide for the declaration against terrorism to be made by candidates at, respectively, district council and Assembly elections in Northern Ireland. Clause 4 provides for a similar declaration to be made by candidates co-opted to fill casual vacancies on district councils. The terms of the declaration in each case are set out in schedule 2.
· Candidates will be required to declare that, if elected, they will not express support for or approval of proscribed organisations or acts of terrorism—that is to say, violence for political ends—connected with the affairs of Northern Ireland’ (Hansard, Col. 43, 5 December 1988, link).
· Jeremy Corbyn was amongst the MPs to vote against this measure (Hansard, Col. 113, 5 December 1988, link).
Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act 1998
Following the bombing of Omagh on 15 August 1998, Parliament was recalled to consider new anti-terrorism legislation curtailing membership of known terrorist groups.
· ‘the opinion of a senior police officer would be admissible in court as evidence of membership of specific terrorist groups’
· ‘courts would be allowed to draw inference from a suspect's refusal to answer questions during the course of an investigation into membership’
· ‘on conviction, the assets of individuals found to be members would be subject to forfeiture if they had been used in support of the group or could be so used in future’
· ‘it would become an offence to conspire in the UK to commit terrorist or other serious offences in a foreign country’
(House of Commons Research Paper 98/97, 2 September 1998, link; Hansard, 2 September 1998, Cm 840, link).
Terrorism Act 2000
First of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by Parliament.
· ‘setting out a new and expanded definition of terrorism, designed to include ideological and religious motivations for acts, as well as political motives’
· ‘designed to apply to all forms of terrorism, including domestic terrorism’
· ‘create a new offence of inciting terrorist acts abroad…along with the offence of providing of receiving weapons training, which is being expanded by the Bill’
(House of Commons Research Paper 99/101, 13 December 1999, link; Hansard, 15 March 2000, Cm 471, link).
In March 2001 the Government introduced a Statutory Instrument that added 21 terrorist organisations to those proscribed in the Terrorism Act 2000 that both Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbot voted against. These were:
Al-Qa’ida [sic]
Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Al-Gama’at al-Islamiya
Armed Islamic Group (Groupe Islamique Armée) (GIA)
Salafist Group for Call and Combat (Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat) (GSPC)
Babbar Khalsa
International Sikh Youth Federation
Harakat Mujahideen
Jaish e Mohammed
Lashkar e Tayyaba
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
Hizballah External Security Organisation
Hamas-Izz al-Din al-Qassem Brigades
Palestinian Islamic Jihad - Shaqaqi
Abu Nidal Organisation
Islamic Army of Aden
Mujaheddin e Khalq
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan) (PKK)
Revolutionary Peoples’ Liberation Party - Front (Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi-Cephesi) (DHKP-C)
Basque Homeland and Liberty (Euskadi ta Askatasuna) (ETA)
17 November Revolutionary Organisation (N17)
(Statutory Instrument 2001 No. 1261, link; Hansard, 14 March 2001, Division No.151, link).).
Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act (ATCSA) 2001
Emergency counterterrorism legislation in response to the attacks of September 11 2001. Designed to:
· ‘Cut off terrorist funding’
· ‘Ensure that government departments and agencies can collect and share information required for countering the terrorist threat’
· ‘Streamline relevant immigration procedures’
· ‘Tackle those who seek to stir up religious and racial hatred or violence’
· ‘Ensure the security of the nuclear and aviation industries’
· ‘Improve the security of dangerous substances that may be targeted or used by terrorists’
· ‘Extend police powers available to relevant forces’
(House of Commons Research Paper 01/101, 19 November 2001, link; Hansard, 26 November 2001, Cm 801, link).
Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005
· Introduced control orders.
(House of Commons Research Paper 05/14, 22 February 2005, link; Hansard, 28 February 2005, Col. 785, link).
Terrorism Act 2006
Introduced a number of additional measures following the bombings in London on July 7th and July 21st 2005.
· ‘Creates new offences, such as the re-drafted offence of encouragement of terrorism, revised arrangements for proscribing organisations, and other amendments.
· ‘it also seeks to increase the maximum period of detention without charge for terrorist suspects’
(House of Commons Research Paper 05/66, 20 October 2005, link; Hansard, 26 October 2005, Cm 415, link).
Counter-Terrorism Act 2008
The Counter-Terrorism Bill, published on 24 January 2008, contains a number of provisions which the Government state are designed to enhance counter-terrorism powers.
· ‘A new power to remove documents for examination, powers to take fingerprints and samples from people subject to control orders and data sharing powers’
· ‘A clause to introduce a reserve power to increase the length a person can be detained prior to charge…[and] also makes provision for the post-charge questioning of suspects.
· ‘Introduces provisions for specified terrorism offences committed anywhere in the UK to be tried in any part of the UK’
· ‘Ensure that people convicted of terrorist or terrorism related offences, who were sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment, would be subject to notification requirements and could be made subject of foreign travel orders’.
· ‘Amend the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 in order that intercept material could be used in asset freezing cases related to terrorism’.
· ‘Provisions for coroners’ inquests to take place without a jury, where the Secretary of State certifies that the inquest would involve the consideration of material that should not be made public for certain reasons’.
· ‘Amend the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to allow intercept evidence to be disclosed in exceptional circumstances’.
· ‘Amend the definition of terrorism in s 1 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to include reference to acts made for the purpose of advancing a racial cause. It also creates an offence of communicating information relating to the armed forces, which is likely to be of use to terrorists’
(House of Commons Research Paper 08/20, 26 February 2008, link; Hansard, 11 June 2008, Cm 419, link).
Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011
Replaced control orders with new Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIMs),
· ‘Increased funding for the police and security service to enhance their investigative capabilities and enforce the new rules’.
(House of Commons Research Paper 11/46, 31 May 2011, link; Hansard, 5 September 2011, Cm 140, link).
Justice and Security Act 2013
Aimed at modernising and strengthening the oversight of the intelligence and security services.
· ‘reform the Intelligence and Security Committee, making it a statutory committee of Parliament’
· ‘introduce statutory provisions to allow the civil courts to use ‘closed material procedures’ to hear sensitive evidence in cases that raised national security concerns’
(House of Commons Research Paper 12/80, 14 December 2012, link; Hansard, 7 March 2013, Cm 1227, link).
Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014
Emergency legislation needed to ensure that UK law enforcement and intelligence agencies could maintain their ability to access the telecommunications data they need to investigate criminal activity and protect the public.
(House of Commons Library Standard Note SN/HA/6934, 16 July 2014, link; Hansard, 15 July 2014, Cm 830, link).
Counter-terrorism and Security Act 2015
New powers for security forces in response to the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) raising the UK national terrorist threat level from substantial to severe and reports of UK nationals travelling to Syria to engage in terrorism-related activity.
· ‘Introduce two new powers to place temporary restrictions on travel, including the seizure of passports and new Temporary Exclusion Orders’
· ‘Introduce relocation into the TPIM system and a tighter test on their use’
· ‘Put the Prevent Strategy on a statutory footing’
· ‘Make clear that insurers may not reimburse ransom payments made to terrorists’
· ‘Create a Privacy and Civil Liberties Board’
(House of Commons Research Paper 14/63, 27 November 2014, link; Hansard, 24 March 2015, Col. 1355, link).
Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (Jeremy Corbyn was not present for the vote to take the Bill to a third reading)
(Hansard, 7 June 2016, Cols. 1156-1159, link).
Diane Abbott votes against national security legislation.
Terrorism Act 2000 (Diane Abbott was not present for the vote to take the Bill to a third reading)
First of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by Parliament.
· ‘setting out a new and expanded definition of terrorism, designed to include ideological and religious motivations for acts, as well as political motives’
· ‘designed to apply to all forms of terrorism, including domestic terrorism’
· ‘create a new offence of inciting terrorist acts abroad…along with the offence of providing of receiving weapons training, which is being expanded by the Bill’
(House of Commons Research Paper 99/101, 13 December 1999, link; Hansard, 15 March 2000, Cm 471, link).
Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act (ATCSA) 2001 (Diane Abbott was not present for the vote to take the Bill to a third reading)
Emergency counterterrorism legislation in response to the attacks of September 11 2001. Designed to:
· ‘Cut off terrorist funding’
· ‘Ensure that government departments and agencies can collect and share information required for countering the terrorist threat’
· ‘Streamline relevant immigration procedures’
· ‘Tackle those who seek to stir up religious and racial hatred or violence’
· ‘Ensure the security of the nuclear and aviation industries’
· ‘Improve the security of dangerous substances that may be targeted or used by terrorists’
· ‘Extend police powers available to relevant forces’
(House of Commons Research Paper 01/101, 19 November 2001, link; Hansard, 26 November 2001, Cm 801, link).
Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005
Introduced control orders.
(House of Commons Research Paper 05/14, 22 February 2005, link; Hansard, 28 February 2005, Col. 785, link).
Terrorism Act 2006
Introduced a number of additional measures following the bombings in London on July 7th and July 21st 2005.
· ‘Creates new offences, such as the re-drafted offence of encouragement of terrorism, revised arrangements for proscribing organisations, and other amendments.
· ‘it also seeks to increase the maximum period of detention without charge for terrorist suspects’
(House of Commons Research Paper 05/66, 20 October 2005, link; Hansard, 26 October 2005, Cm 415, link).
Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 (Diane Abbott was not present for the vote to take the Bill to a third reading)
The Counter-Terrorism Bill, published on 24 January 2008, contains a number of provisions which the Government state are designed to enhance counter-terrorism powers.
· ‘A new power to remove documents for examination, powers to take fingerprints and samples from people subject to control orders and data sharing powers’
· ‘A clause to introduce a reserve power to increase the length a person can be detained prior to charge…[and] also makes provision for the post-charge questioning of suspects.
· ‘Introduces provisions for specified terrorism offences committed anywhere in the UK to be tried in any part of the UK’
· ‘Ensure that people convicted of terrorist or terrorism related offences, who were sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment, would be subject to notification requirements and could be made subject of foreign travel orders’.
· ‘Amend the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 in order that intercept material could be used in asset freezing cases related to terrorism’.
· ‘Provisions for coroners’ inquests to take place without a jury, where the Secretary of State certifies that the inquest would involve the consideration of material that should not be made public for certain reasons’.
· ‘Amend the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to allow intercept evidence to be disclosed in exceptional circumstances’.
· ‘Amend the definition of terrorism in s 1 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to include reference to acts made for the purpose of advancing a racial cause. It also creates an offence of communicating information relating to the armed forces, which is likely to be of use to terrorists’
(House of Commons Research Paper 08/20, 26 February 2008, link; Hansard, 11 June 2008, Cm 419, link).
Justice and Security Act 2013 (Diane Abbott was not present for the vote to take the Bill to a third reading)
Aimed at modernising and strengthening the oversight of the intelligence and security services.
· ‘reform the Intelligence and Security Committee, making it a statutory committee of Parliament’
· ‘introduce statutory provisions to allow the civil courts to use ‘closed material procedures’ to hear sensitive evidence in cases that raised national security concerns’
(House of Commons Research Paper 12/80, 14 December 2012, link; Hansard, 7 March 2013, Cm 1227, link).
Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014
Emergency legislation needed to ensure that UK law enforcement and intelligence agencies could maintain their ability to access the telecommunications data they need to investigate criminal activity and protect the public.
(House of Commons Library Standard Note SN/HA/6934, 16 July 2014, link; Hansard, 15 July 2014, Cm 830, link).
Counter-terrorism and Security Act 2015 (Diane Abbott was not present for the vote to take the Bill to a third reading)
New powers for security forces in response to the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) raising the UK national terrorist threat level from substantial to severe and reports of UK nationals travelling to Syria to engage in terrorism-related activity.
· ‘Introduce two new powers to place temporary restrictions on travel, including the seizure of passports and new Temporary Exclusion Orders’
· ‘Introduce relocation into the TPIM system and a tighter test on their use’
· ‘Put the Prevent Strategy on a statutory footing’
· ‘Make clear that insurers may not reimburse ransom payments made to terrorists’
· ‘Create a Privacy and Civil Liberties Board’
(House of Commons Research Paper 14/63, 27 November 2014, link; Hansard, 24 March 2015, Col. 1355, link).
Starmer shows again that Corbyn doesn’t support anti-terror legislation
In a revealing gaffe this morning, Jeremy Corbyn’s top lawyer and shadow Brexit sectary Kier Starmer tried to defend Corbyn’s record on terror but when asked to give an example of anti-terror legislation that Corbyn had supported, Starmer cited a measure that Corbyn did not vote for.
Starmer gave the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 as an example of Jeremy Corbyn supporting the fight against terror, but was embarrassed live on air when it was revealed the Labour leader had not even voted for Starmer’s example, nor had the Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott on its reading a year ago today.
Commenting, Secretary of State for International Development, Priti Patel said:
“Kier Starmer has unwittingly highlighted what Labour are desperate to hide: Jeremy Corbyn’s record of undermining the safety and security of Britain. Corbyn has boasted about voting against every piece of anti-terrorist legislation in the past thirty years, he has sided with Britain’s enemies and he has shared platforms with speakers who espouse hatred and views that have no place in our society . The first duty of a Prime Minister is to keep the country safe and act in the national interest, it’s simply not good enough to refuse to give the police the powers they need or to go missing in action like his shadow home secretary Diane Abbott.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
· Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott did not support the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 – which renewed the security services’ powers to access the communications of terrorists and serious criminals
· Corbyn and Abbott both abstained in the Third Reading of the Bill in June 2016 – despite Labour’s official position being to support it (Hansard, 7 June 2016, Cols. 1156-1159, link).
· Diane Abbott blogged the day before the vote that strengthening the power of MI5 in this way counted as ‘snooping’. ‘The Home Secretary tells us that the secret services need this power to snoop on anyone to save lives but keeps to herself the impact that mass surveillance has on protecting us and has never provided a detailed and evidence-based public justification for its necessity’ (Diane Abbott’s website, 6 June 2016, link).
Sir Keir Starmer anti-terror legislation – GMB – 07.06.2017 (verbatim)
Sir Keir Starmer: Last year, we had the investigatory Powers Bill, which was a bill bringing together all the powers of the security intelligence services in terms of surveillance and everything that they do. I led the Labour Party on that. And we supported that bill. We had amendments which strengthened that bill and the Labour Party ... (Interrupted)
Susanna Reid: Where was Jeremy Corbyn in that vote?
Sir Keir Starmer: The Labour Party had a ... (Interrupted)
Susanna Reid: Where was Jeremy Corbyn in that vote?
Sir Keir Starmer: …three line whip ... (Interrupted)
Susanna Reid: Where was Jeremy Corbyn in that vote?
Pier Morgan: What did Corbyn do?
Sir Keir Starmer: As far as I know, Jeremy voted. Certainly the Labour Party had a three line whip on it, and I led for that on it and we worked with the Prime Minister to ensure ... (Interrupted)
Susanna Reid: When you say ‘as far as you know Jeremy Corbyn voted, did he vote?
Sir Keir Starmer: That is now ... (Interrupted)
Susanna Reid: Did you vote for it Keir Starmer?
Sir Keir Starmer: It was a three line whip. I have not before coming on this programme gone through the list of who went through the lobby on the particular amendments and issues on that bill to be perfectly on it.
Susanna Reid: You’d want to know if your leader had voted for it though wouldn’t you?
Sir Keir Starmer: He was the leader of the party who imposed a three line whip on it.
Piers Morgan: He’s the leader of a party that wants to renew the Trident nuclear programme, and yet he himself doesn’t believe in it, wouldn’t support it, and would never press the button. The problem is, come Friday, he might be the guy who has to press the button.
Sir Keir Starmer: But we’re talking here about the really serious issue ... (Interrupted)
LATER
Susanna Reid: Can I just ask one last question? You said you voted to support the investigatory Powers Act 2016.
Sir Keir Starmer: Not just voted, I led the debate for Labour on it.
Susanna Reid: You led the debate, it’s a three line whip. According to my brief, Jeremy Corbyn was absent from the vote.
Sir Keir Starmer: Well I mean I don’t know. You know better than I do. I haven’t gone through the voting lists.
Susanna Reid: It's not massively encouraging is it? The one thing you cited as evidence of Jeremy Corbyn actually promoting anything which might toughen terror laws was actually a thing he couldn’t be bothered to turn up and vote for.
Sir Keir Starmer: Well I don’t know that. I mean ... (Interrupted)
Piers Morgan: You’ve just been told it.
Sir Keir Starmer: Jeremy was leading the party. I led for the party on it. We imposed the three line whip. And we went through the lobbies to support ... (Interrupted)
Susanna Reid: Jeremy Corbyn wasn’t there and he’s the leader of your party.
Sir Keir Starmer: He may have been paired on that occasion - I really don't know.
Susanna Reid: But you gave that as an example of Jeremy Corbyn not voting against everything.
Sir Keir Starmer: This is Jeremy Corbyn leading the Labour Party that asked me to lead on a bill where we imposed a three line ... (Interrupted)
Piers Morgan: But the one example Keir Starmer that you chose to illustrate him not voting against terror legislation, actually it turned out he didn't vote in favour of terror legislation. So you get our point that we do not feel very comforted by this.
Sir Keir Starmer: Well this is the leader of the Labour Party who imposed a three line whip on all MPs for that bill which I was leading ... (Interrupted)
Susanna Reid: And didn’t vote himself.
Sir Keir Starmer: I don’t know why not. MPs are paired as you know all the time depending on what else they’re doing on any particular day. I don’t know the circumstances. If Jeremy had not supported it, he certainly wouldn’t have imposed a three line whip on it ... (Interrupted)
Piers Morgan: Jeremy hasn’t supported any terrorism legislation ever by the look of it.
Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott’s track record of voting against anti-terror legislation
1984: Prevention of Terrorism Act
· Jeremy Corbyn voted against the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Hansard, Col. 52 – 116, 24 October 1983, link).
1985: Prevention of Terrorism Act
· Jeremy Corbyn voted against the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Hansard, Col. 1299 – 320, 21 February 1985, link).
1988: Prevention of Terrorism Act
· Jeremy Corbyn voted against the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Hansard, Col. 207 - 74, 6 December 1988, link).
Elected Authorities (Northern Ireland) Act 1989
· Tom King (Secretary of State for Northern Ireland): ‘The most controversial part of the Bill concerns the declaration against terrorism. Clauses 3 and 5 provide for the declaration against terrorism to be made by candidates at, respectively, district council and Assembly elections in Northern Ireland. Clause 4 provides for a similar declaration to be made by candidates co-opted to fill casual vacancies on district councils. The terms of the declaration in each case are set out in schedule 2.
· Candidates will be required to declare that, if elected, they will not express support for or approval of proscribed organisations or acts of terrorism—that is to say, violence for political ends—connected with the affairs of Northern Ireland’ (Hansard, Col. 43, 5 December 1988, link).
· Jeremy Corbyn was amongst the MPs to vote against this measure (Hansard, Col. 113, 5 December 1988, link).
Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act 1998
Following the bombing of Omagh on 15 August 1998, Parliament was recalled to consider new anti-terrorism legislation curtailing membership of known terrorist groups.
· ‘the opinion of a senior police officer would be admissible in court as evidence of membership of specific terrorist groups’
· ‘courts would be allowed to draw inference from a suspect's refusal to answer questions during the course of an investigation into membership’
· ‘on conviction, the assets of individuals found to be members would be subject to forfeiture if they had been used in support of the group or could be so used in future’
· ‘it would become an offence to conspire in the UK to commit terrorist or other serious offences in a foreign country’
(House of Commons Research Paper 98/97, 2 September 1998, link; Hansard, 2 September 1998, Cm 840, link).
Terrorism Act 2000
First of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by Parliament.
· ‘setting out a new and expanded definition of terrorism, designed to include ideological and religious motivations for acts, as well as political motives’
· ‘designed to apply to all forms of terrorism, including domestic terrorism’
· ‘create a new offence of inciting terrorist acts abroad…along with the offence of providing of receiving weapons training, which is being expanded by the Bill’
(House of Commons Research Paper 99/101, 13 December 1999, link; Hansard, 15 March 2000, Cm 471, link).
In March 2001 the Government introduced a Statutory Instrument that added 21 terrorist organisations to those proscribed in the Terrorism Act 2000 that both Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbot voted against. These were:
Al-Qa’ida [sic]
Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Al-Gama’at al-Islamiya
Armed Islamic Group (Groupe Islamique Armée) (GIA)
Salafist Group for Call and Combat (Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat) (GSPC)
Babbar Khalsa
International Sikh Youth Federation
Harakat Mujahideen
Jaish e Mohammed
Lashkar e Tayyaba
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
Hizballah External Security Organisation
Hamas-Izz al-Din al-Qassem Brigades
Palestinian Islamic Jihad - Shaqaqi
Abu Nidal Organisation
Islamic Army of Aden
Mujaheddin e Khalq
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan) (PKK)
Revolutionary Peoples’ Liberation Party - Front (Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi-Cephesi) (DHKP-C)
Basque Homeland and Liberty (Euskadi ta Askatasuna) (ETA)
17 November Revolutionary Organisation (N17)
(Statutory Instrument 2001 No. 1261, link; Hansard, 14 March 2001, Division No.151, link).).
Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act (ATCSA) 2001
Emergency counterterrorism legislation in response to the attacks of September 11 2001. Designed to:
· ‘Cut off terrorist funding’
· ‘Ensure that government departments and agencies can collect and share information required for countering the terrorist threat’
· ‘Streamline relevant immigration procedures’
· ‘Tackle those who seek to stir up religious and racial hatred or violence’
· ‘Ensure the security of the nuclear and aviation industries’
· ‘Improve the security of dangerous substances that may be targeted or used by terrorists’
· ‘Extend police powers available to relevant forces’
(House of Commons Research Paper 01/101, 19 November 2001, link; Hansard, 26 November 2001, Cm 801, link).
Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005
· Introduced control orders.
(House of Commons Research Paper 05/14, 22 February 2005, link; Hansard, 28 February 2005, Col. 785, link).
Terrorism Act 2006
Introduced a number of additional measures following the bombings in London on July 7th and July 21st 2005.
· ‘Creates new offences, such as the re-drafted offence of encouragement of terrorism, revised arrangements for proscribing organisations, and other amendments.
· ‘it also seeks to increase the maximum period of detention without charge for terrorist suspects’
(House of Commons Research Paper 05/66, 20 October 2005, link; Hansard, 26 October 2005, Cm 415, link).
Counter-Terrorism Act 2008
The Counter-Terrorism Bill, published on 24 January 2008, contains a number of provisions which the Government state are designed to enhance counter-terrorism powers.
· ‘A new power to remove documents for examination, powers to take fingerprints and samples from people subject to control orders and data sharing powers’
· ‘A clause to introduce a reserve power to increase the length a person can be detained prior to charge…[and] also makes provision for the post-charge questioning of suspects.
· ‘Introduces provisions for specified terrorism offences committed anywhere in the UK to be tried in any part of the UK’
· ‘Ensure that people convicted of terrorist or terrorism related offences, who were sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment, would be subject to notification requirements and could be made subject of foreign travel orders’.
· ‘Amend the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 in order that intercept material could be used in asset freezing cases related to terrorism’.
· ‘Provisions for coroners’ inquests to take place without a jury, where the Secretary of State certifies that the inquest would involve the consideration of material that should not be made public for certain reasons’.
· ‘Amend the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to allow intercept evidence to be disclosed in exceptional circumstances’.
· ‘Amend the definition of terrorism in s 1 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to include reference to acts made for the purpose of advancing a racial cause. It also creates an offence of communicating information relating to the armed forces, which is likely to be of use to terrorists’
(House of Commons Research Paper 08/20, 26 February 2008, link; Hansard, 11 June 2008, Cm 419, link).
Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011
Replaced control orders with new Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIMs),
· ‘Increased funding for the police and security service to enhance their investigative capabilities and enforce the new rules’.
(House of Commons Research Paper 11/46, 31 May 2011, link; Hansard, 5 September 2011, Cm 140, link).
Justice and Security Act 2013
Aimed at modernising and strengthening the oversight of the intelligence and security services.
· ‘reform the Intelligence and Security Committee, making it a statutory committee of Parliament’
· ‘introduce statutory provisions to allow the civil courts to use ‘closed material procedures’ to hear sensitive evidence in cases that raised national security concerns’
(House of Commons Research Paper 12/80, 14 December 2012, link; Hansard, 7 March 2013, Cm 1227, link).
Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014
Emergency legislation needed to ensure that UK law enforcement and intelligence agencies could maintain their ability to access the telecommunications data they need to investigate criminal activity and protect the public.
(House of Commons Library Standard Note SN/HA/6934, 16 July 2014, link; Hansard, 15 July 2014, Cm 830, link).
Counter-terrorism and Security Act 2015
New powers for security forces in response to the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) raising the UK national terrorist threat level from substantial to severe and reports of UK nationals travelling to Syria to engage in terrorism-related activity.
· ‘Introduce two new powers to place temporary restrictions on travel, including the seizure of passports and new Temporary Exclusion Orders’
· ‘Introduce relocation into the TPIM system and a tighter test on their use’
· ‘Put the Prevent Strategy on a statutory footing’
· ‘Make clear that insurers may not reimburse ransom payments made to terrorists’
· ‘Create a Privacy and Civil Liberties Board’
(House of Commons Research Paper 14/63, 27 November 2014, link; Hansard, 24 March 2015, Col. 1355, link).
Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (Jeremy Corbyn was not present for the vote to take the Bill to a third reading)
(Hansard, 7 June 2016, Cols. 1156-1159, link).
Diane Abbott votes against national security legislation.
Terrorism Act 2000 (Diane Abbott was not present for the vote to take the Bill to a third reading)
First of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by Parliament.
· ‘setting out a new and expanded definition of terrorism, designed to include ideological and religious motivations for acts, as well as political motives’
· ‘designed to apply to all forms of terrorism, including domestic terrorism’
· ‘create a new offence of inciting terrorist acts abroad…along with the offence of providing of receiving weapons training, which is being expanded by the Bill’
(House of Commons Research Paper 99/101, 13 December 1999, link; Hansard, 15 March 2000, Cm 471, link).
Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act (ATCSA) 2001 (Diane Abbott was not present for the vote to take the Bill to a third reading)
Emergency counterterrorism legislation in response to the attacks of September 11 2001. Designed to:
· ‘Cut off terrorist funding’
· ‘Ensure that government departments and agencies can collect and share information required for countering the terrorist threat’
· ‘Streamline relevant immigration procedures’
· ‘Tackle those who seek to stir up religious and racial hatred or violence’
· ‘Ensure the security of the nuclear and aviation industries’
· ‘Improve the security of dangerous substances that may be targeted or used by terrorists’
· ‘Extend police powers available to relevant forces’
(House of Commons Research Paper 01/101, 19 November 2001, link; Hansard, 26 November 2001, Cm 801, link).
Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005
Introduced control orders.
(House of Commons Research Paper 05/14, 22 February 2005, link; Hansard, 28 February 2005, Col. 785, link).
Terrorism Act 2006
Introduced a number of additional measures following the bombings in London on July 7th and July 21st 2005.
· ‘Creates new offences, such as the re-drafted offence of encouragement of terrorism, revised arrangements for proscribing organisations, and other amendments.
· ‘it also seeks to increase the maximum period of detention without charge for terrorist suspects’
(House of Commons Research Paper 05/66, 20 October 2005, link; Hansard, 26 October 2005, Cm 415, link).
Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 (Diane Abbott was not present for the vote to take the Bill to a third reading)
The Counter-Terrorism Bill, published on 24 January 2008, contains a number of provisions which the Government state are designed to enhance counter-terrorism powers.
· ‘A new power to remove documents for examination, powers to take fingerprints and samples from people subject to control orders and data sharing powers’
· ‘A clause to introduce a reserve power to increase the length a person can be detained prior to charge…[and] also makes provision for the post-charge questioning of suspects.
· ‘Introduces provisions for specified terrorism offences committed anywhere in the UK to be tried in any part of the UK’
· ‘Ensure that people convicted of terrorist or terrorism related offences, who were sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment, would be subject to notification requirements and could be made subject of foreign travel orders’.
· ‘Amend the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 in order that intercept material could be used in asset freezing cases related to terrorism’.
· ‘Provisions for coroners’ inquests to take place without a jury, where the Secretary of State certifies that the inquest would involve the consideration of material that should not be made public for certain reasons’.
· ‘Amend the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to allow intercept evidence to be disclosed in exceptional circumstances’.
· ‘Amend the definition of terrorism in s 1 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to include reference to acts made for the purpose of advancing a racial cause. It also creates an offence of communicating information relating to the armed forces, which is likely to be of use to terrorists’
(House of Commons Research Paper 08/20, 26 February 2008, link; Hansard, 11 June 2008, Cm 419, link).
Justice and Security Act 2013 (Diane Abbott was not present for the vote to take the Bill to a third reading)
Aimed at modernising and strengthening the oversight of the intelligence and security services.
· ‘reform the Intelligence and Security Committee, making it a statutory committee of Parliament’
· ‘introduce statutory provisions to allow the civil courts to use ‘closed material procedures’ to hear sensitive evidence in cases that raised national security concerns’
(House of Commons Research Paper 12/80, 14 December 2012, link; Hansard, 7 March 2013, Cm 1227, link).
Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014
Emergency legislation needed to ensure that UK law enforcement and intelligence agencies could maintain their ability to access the telecommunications data they need to investigate criminal activity and protect the public.
(House of Commons Library Standard Note SN/HA/6934, 16 July 2014, link; Hansard, 15 July 2014, Cm 830, link).
Counter-terrorism and Security Act 2015 (Diane Abbott was not present for the vote to take the Bill to a third reading)
New powers for security forces in response to the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) raising the UK national terrorist threat level from substantial to severe and reports of UK nationals travelling to Syria to engage in terrorism-related activity.
· ‘Introduce two new powers to place temporary restrictions on travel, including the seizure of passports and new Temporary Exclusion Orders’
· ‘Introduce relocation into the TPIM system and a tighter test on their use’
· ‘Put the Prevent Strategy on a statutory footing’
· ‘Make clear that insurers may not reimburse ransom payments made to terrorists’
· ‘Create a Privacy and Civil Liberties Board’
(House of Commons Research Paper 14/63, 27 November 2014, link; Hansard, 24 March 2015, Col. 1355, link).
