Government urged to automatically jail any British jihadis on their return from terror hotspots
Australia slaps 10 year prison terms on anyone going to countries like Syria and Iraq without a good reason, and senior Labour MP John Woodcock will demand UK does the same
MINISTERS today face calls to automatically jail any British jihadis who travel to terror hotspots on their return.
Australia slaps 10 year prison terms on anyone going to countries like Syria and Iraq without a good reason, and senior Labour MP John Woodcock will demand the UK Government introduce the new tough law during a Commons debate this afternoon.
It is already an offence in Britain to support a terrorist group abroad.
But only a fraction of the estimated 400 returnees from fighting for Daesh have been charged after cops struggled to amass sufficient admissible evidence.
Mr Woodcock last night challenged the Home Office to prove it is “serious about locking up these battle-trained Jihadis so they cannot plot terror attacks on British streets”.
The former No10 adviser added: “Instead of hiding behind tough talk, the government should come clean over the number of terror suspects who are being allowed to go free when they return to the UK because there isn’t enough hard evidence to prosecute.
“It is time to turn the tables on the terrorists by considering making it an offence to travel to designated terror hot spots without a legitimate verifiable reason."
His demand came as the former terror laws watchdog yesterday branded the returnees as “potentially very dangerous”.
Giving evidence to MPs, David Anderrson QC said former jihadis should be prosecuted whenever possible.
He said: “My first reaction would not be to look at them in a particularly generous spirit.
MOST READ IN POLITICS:
“I think the starting point has to be that these are potentially very dangerous people.”
A total of 850 UK residents are believed to have joined Daesh’s ranks since 2011.
Half, or around 400, have returned, around 100 were killed and the rest are unaccounted for.