Financial Times - Theresa May ramps up anti-terror rhetoric in final election push
the media pirateJune 7, 2017. George Parker, Henry Mance Jim Pickard.
PM seeks to quell criticism over security as confident Tories target Labour heartlands.
Theresa May has vowed to restrict the freedom of movement of terror suspects, as she tried to allay criticism of her handling of the security threat ahead of a final push for votes in Thursday’s general election.
Mrs May will on Wednesday embark on an eleventh-hour tour of closely fought Labour-held constituencies amid Conservative confidence that she is heading for a solid election victory in spite of a struggling campaign.
The prime minister has been stung by criticism of police cuts made on her watch as home secretary, and has announced that the security services will review why they failed to stop Saturday’s terrorist attack at London Bridge.
Mrs May promised greater restrictions on the movement of terror suspects against whom there is not enough evidence to launch prosecutions.
That could involve a more comprehensive version of the terrorism prevention and investigation measures (TPims) introduced in 2012. “If our human rights laws stop us from doing it, we’ll change the laws so we can do it,” she said.
The Conservative manifesto commits to keeping the Human Rights Act at least until Brexit, and to keeping the UK in the European Convention on Human Rights for the duration of the next parliament.
Mrs May has previously said that Britain could derogate — or temporarily not enforce — aspects of the ECHR during wartime to prevent legal action against its troops.
Mrs May’s nationwide tour will be the culmination of a lacklustre campaign that has twice been interrupted by terrorist attacks. Tory strategists believe they are still on course for victory by beating Labour in its working class, Brexit-voting heartlands.
The prime minister has tried to refocus the campaign on Brexit and a more upbeat vision of the UK’s future, saying yesterday she would “reignite the British spirit” as she leads the country into EU divorce talks with Brussels.
But the final days of campaigning have been consumed by the aftermath of Saturday’s London Bridge terrorist attack, which left seven dead and dozens injured in the heart of the capital.
A third attacker, identified by the Metropolitan Police as Youssef Zaghba, a 22-year-old east London resident, was stopped at Bologna’s airport last year and interrogated by Italian authorities. They warned UK intelligence he was a risk, a senior Italian official told the Financial Times.
The revelation comes just 24 hours after the Met admitted another attacker, Pakistan-born Briton Khurum Butt, had been investigated for extremist ties in 2015.
Police arrested a 30-year-old man in connection with the attack in the early hours of Wednesday morning after a raid at an address in Ilford, east London.
The prime minister has been criticised for cutting police from 142,000 to 123,000 and faced questions over why the security services failed to thwart the attack — which followed last month’s Manchester concert bombing.
“I absolutely recognise people’s concerns,” Mrs May said on a tour of battleground seats in northern England.
Sadiq Khan, London’s Labour mayor, said planned police cuts were “unsustainable” and a further £400m in savings could cost 12,800 police posts. “Fewer police officers mean we are in more danger,” he said.
Mrs May has attempted to present Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has past associations with Hamas and Sinn Féin/IRA, as soft on terrorism, only to find herself under attack from Labour on security in the campaign’s final days.
The FT polltracker gives the Tories a 6-point lead over Labour, contrasting with the 20-point cushion enjoyed by Mrs May when she announced the snap election on April 18. David Cameron won the 2015 election with a 6.5 percentage point lead over Labour.
Insiders insist the mood in Conservative HQ is “quietly confident”. Mrs May, who has embraced Brexit, believes the Tories can win a big majority by mopping up a large reservoir of former Ukip voters in Labour’s heartlands.
“On the ground it feels like the Tories are way ahead — the West Midlands and West Yorkshire are the biggest concerns,” said one Labour insider. A Labour candidate in a marginal northern seat said that things had improved “hugely” just in the past 10 days — but maybe not enough to save her seat.
But Mr Corbyn has been buoyed by poll ratings suggesting Labour will comfortably outperform its showing under either Ed Miliband in 2015 or Gordon Brown in 2010; he will spend the final day of campaigning in seats the party hopes to gain.
The Liberal Democrats also report some improvement in their position in recent days; party leader Tim Farron will campaign in six target seats as the election campaign draws to a close. Polls open at 7am on Thursday.
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