Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill must fully apply to NI

Doug Beattie, Justice Spokesperson for the Ulster Unionist Party, has warned that new measures to jail terrorists for longer must apply to Northern Ireland in exactly the same manner as the rest of the United Kingdom.  

Beattie said: “At a court hearing in Belfast on Thursday it was stated that the alleged New IRA leadership had been planning a joint venture with a ‘Middle Eastern grouping.’ This prospect of such a joint enterprise reinforces my belief that the Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill – currently going through Westminster - must fully apply to Northern Ireland.

“This bill is viewed by the government as the largest overhaul of sentencing and monitoring for decades and includes a minimum 14-year jail term for the most dangerous terrorist offenders, who will also have to spend up to 25 years on licence after their release.

“The idea of Irish republicans linking up with Middle East terror factions is not a new one given the links between the IRA and the PLO in the 1970s, but in light of the current terror threat to the UK from Islamist extremists, the prospect of Irish republicans being prepared to act with them reinforces the need for all and any anti-terrorism measures to apply fully and equally throughout the United Kingdom.

“Northern Ireland cannot be allowed to become the soft underbelly of the United Kingdom, and it is therefore imperative that we future proof our justice system to look not only at domestic terrorism, but also international terrorism.”

Beattie made a similar call in February, stressing that Northern Ireland ‘is not immune to global terrorist attack’.