New measures to tackle the growing problem of convicted Islamic terrorists radicalising fellow inmates have been introduced by the Tory Government.
The legislation, which only covers England and Wales, limits the volume of books these terrorists can keep in their cells and prevents them taking a “leading role” in religious services.
In April 2022 a report entitled Terrorism in Prisons by independent reviewer of terrorism legislation Jonathan Hall QC raised concerns about Islamist gangs in prison radicalising other prisoners.
The changes introduced by Justice Secretary Alex Chalk will limit about 200 convicted terrorists to two medium-sized boxes of books than must weigh no more than 15kg. These can be sourced from the prison library, ordered from approved retailers or can be sent in my friends and family. The change was announced yesterday and came into force immediately as it did not require Commons approval.
This latter method has already been used by Islamists to get round existing restrictions, with extremist material being hidden inside approved books, sometimes simply by swapping the covers. The prison service seem to struggle in particular with books not written in English.
Back in 2013, Conservative Justice Minister Chris Grayling attempted a blanket ban on all prisoners being sent any type of book from friends and family. It was part of a scheme the Government claimed was to tackle the out-of-control trafficking of drugs into prisons. The High Court, however, sensibly ruled in 2014 that there was “no good reason” to restrict access to books for all prisoners. Mr Chalk says he is not expecting the Government to be challenged in the courts this time as they are only limiting the change to terror offenders.
Quite what restricting books by volume will do to prevent the obvious failings in the system is unclear. Limiting the number of books the authorities have to search might save them a bit of time – this was cited as a benefit – but if they don’t even know what the text says then what will that matter? Convicted terrorists waive their rights away when they target the innocent people of this land.
It beggars belief that, up until now, these terrorists, many of whom have killed in the name of Islam, should have been granted permission to lead religious services while incarcerated. It is well known that many of these terrorists have used such methods to radicalise others inside and outside of prison.
It should be noted that the new legislation will cover any and all faiths, despite the Terrorism in Prisons review stating that the problem was that “for the last decade and a half groups of prisoners on the Prison Estate have adopted an anti-State Islamist stance that condones or encourages violence towards non-Muslim prisoners, prison officers and the general public”. Jonathan Hall, now a KC following the change in monarch, cited studies which “identified how these groups, operating in an environment of high levels of fear amongst staff and prisoners, enabled ‘heavy players’ and ‘extremist prisoners’ to exercise significant power and influence within the prison”. He said there was evidence of highly structured Islamist gangs operating within the prison estate and referred to a “Muslim gang culture” that viewed prisons as good recruiting grounds.
Mainstream opposition party spokesmen and women have been wheeled out to take aim at the Conservatives but, as usual, they avoid hitting the target. Labour’s Steve Reed bleated about the slow pace of convicting terrorists, while the Lib Dems’ Christine Jardine only focused on the Tories breaking pre-election rules which restrict ministers from making party political announcements with the help of government resources in the run-up to a vote.
The safety and security of prisoners, staff and the general public should, in my view, be paramount. I think it would be sensible to say that no convicted terrorist in UK prisons should be permitted any form of literature in a language other than those native to these shores. Each book should be thoroughly reviewed in advance, regardless of the time it takes to do so, and any costs incurred in that process be met by the prisoner. Any evidence of gang culture and structure should be dismantled, and that includes activity disguised as religious in nature.
Those who use violence or the threat of violence to coerce and intimidate others to further their political or religious goals have should have their rights restricted. They care not for our people or society and should be judged accordingly.
Kenny Smith
