Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Watts and James Brokenshire

Monday 27th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

8. How many terrorism prevention and investigation measures orders will expire during January 2014.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Brokenshire)]

As of 30 November, eight TPIM notices were in force. The previous Government did not provide a running commentary on control orders, and for sound operational reasons we will not comment on individual TPIM cases. The next quarterly statistics are due to be published in March.

[Mr Watts]

I thank the Minister for that response. Until last week, both the Home Secretary and the High Court backed TPIMs. What has changed, and how will the Government protect the public now that they have made that change?

[James Brokenshire]

It is worth highlighting for the House that TPIMs provide some of the most stringent restrictions in any democratic country. The independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, David Anderson, described them as a “harsh” measure. I highlight that the two-year limit for TPIMs is supported by David Anderson and his predecessor in that role, Lord Carlile, who was appointed by the previous Labour Government. There are measures in place to manage TPIM suspects when they come off their orders, and we have confidence in the ability of the police and the Security Service to manage risk, which they do every day.