National security measures ‘a very tough call’
Balancing the needs of national security with civil liberties was “a very tough call”, Charles Clarke said today.
The home secretary last night warned that another terrorist attack on London was to be expected, and today he confirmed this belief, saying that despite work by police and intelligence services they could not rule out the risk of further attacks.
“These are worrying events. I wish they didn’t happen and I wish we didn’t have this threat to deal with, but we do. The question in those circumstances is how best we deal with them and protect the public,” he said.
Speaking yesterday after a meeting with Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Ian Blair, Mr Clarke hinted he would continue to use his powers to deport anyone whose presence in Britain ‘was not conducive to the public good’.
And this morning he told Today that it was important to expand powers available to him to prevent someone entering the country who he believes might be a risk.
“That decision is subject to judicial review and to the policies and legal frameworks within which that decision is taken,” he said.
“I announced on July 20th that I intended to widen the basis of taking that decision from the pure national security grounds that had been conventional beforehand.
“I set out the process – the publication of a list of unacceptable behaviours and consultation process about that list – which is what we are carrying through, and that consultation will conclude at the and of next week.”
Mr Clarke said it was vital for politicians and the media to consider how “in this new climate, we work in a way that human rights are protected while making sure that people who want to behave in a way that is completely unacceptable is properly targeted”.
While not responding specifically to concerns about the impact this new tough stance could have on civil liberties, he said: “Getting the balance between that intelligence and individual civil liberties and human rights is a very tough call.”
Civil rights campaigners have expressed outrage at the government’s proposed new anti-terror legislation and tougher powers to deport people, warning that they threaten the very freedoms they promise to protect.
