Theresa May ready to curb human rights laws to fight terrorism
SLOUGH, ENGLAND British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday that she would be willing to weaken human rights protections to make it easier to deport or curb the movements of suspected militants when there is not enough evidence to prosecute.
Mrs May used one of her final speeches in an election campaign that has turned into a debate about national security to step up her rhetoric against Islamist extremism, pledging to ensure security services have the power they need.
It comes days after Britain's third major terror attack this year, in which seven people were killed when militants ploughed a van into pedestrians and then started stabbing people and slitting throats in a busy area of central London.
Mrs May said authorities need to be able to do more, including to restrict the movements of suspected militants when police have enough evidence to suspect they presented a threat, but not enough to prosecute them.
"If our human rights laws stop us from doing it, we will change the laws so we can do it," she said to cheers and applause at an election rally.
SCRAP
Mrs May, a former interior minister, had previously been criticised for scrapping house arrest rules known as "control orders", which were coming under regular legal challenge.
In Tuesday's speech, she also called for longer prison sentences for people convicted of terrorist offences, and to make it easier to deport foreign suspected militants.
In an interview with The Sun newspaper, Mrs May said she would consider extending to 28 days the period in which police can hold terror suspects for questioning. I
t was reduced to 14 days in 2011.
Mrs May has promised that if she wins today's election, Britain would remain a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights until 2022.
However, Tuesday's remarks signalled she would look at ways around the rules if necessary. - REUTERS
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