EMERGENCY legislation to block some 50 convicted terrorists from being automatically freed from jail will be rushed through the House of Commons today.
The Terrorist Offenders [Restriction of Early Release] Bill has come about following the terror attack in Streatham in south London; the second in three months carried out by convicted terrorists after they were released from prison.
UK ministers are in a race against time to pass the legislation before the next terrorist is due to be released from prison on February 28 with more scheduled in March.
The bill aims to ensure terrorist offenders serve two-thirds of their sentence before they are considered eligible for release rather than the current halfway mark.
Before being freed they would need to be reviewed by a panel of specialist judges and psychiatrists.
The legislation is aiming to get Royal Assent on February 27 and the Government will consider further legislative changes if necessary.
Announcing the timetable, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Commons Leader, told MPs the Government hoped they would pass all stages of the bill in one day.
He explained the Lords were clear about the urgency of the matter and that “therefore, I expect them to handle this in a reasonable manner" ie equally swiftly.
Parliament will rise for its mid-term recess on Thursday night.
Last week, lawyers said they were preparing for a legal fight against the Government over the plans, arguing the rules could not be brought into force against sentences already handed down.
But officials said they were confident they had the flexibility to change how an offender served their sentence by extending the time they spent behind bars rather than on licence.
In the third attack in as many months, Sudesh Amman wore a fake suicide belt as he grabbed a knife from a shop in Streatham before stabbing two bystanders.
The 20-year-old had been jailed for distributing terrorist documents in December 2018 but was freed automatically halfway through his sentence less than a fortnight ago.
He was under 24-hour police surveillance following his release as security services reportedly regarded him as an "extremely concerning individual".
Last month, two inmates wearing fake suicide belts stabbed a prison officer at maximum security prison in Cambridgshire.
In November, Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt were killed by Usman Khan when he launched an attack armed with two knives and wearing a fake suicide vest during a prisoner rehabilitation programme near London Bridge - nearly a year after he was released halfway through a 16-year jail sentence for terror offences.
At present, there are 224 terrorists in prison in Britain with most thought to be holding Islamist extremist views, according to the latest published figures to the end of September.
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