'Innovative' terror threat warning

12 April 2012

The security threat to Britain comes from "educated and innovative" terrorists, a Home Office minister said.

Security, counter-terrorism and policing minister Tony McNulty told a security conference that the country must use all its ability to match the terrorist threat.

He also admitted that the Government's control order system - which faces a crucial legal challenge in the House of Lords this week - may be "inappropriate".

Mr McNulty told the conference in central London: "We are dealing with an educated and informed enemy who work as we have seen around the world in a very, very innovative way and we need, as a Government and collectively as a society, to match that."

The minister appeared to indicate that a re-appraisal of certain key planks of the Government's anti-terror laws may be necessary.

A panel of five law lords will on Thursday hear an appeal over whether control orders with their strict conditions imposing a form of house arrest amount to a depravation of liberty under human rights laws.

"It may be that we haven't thought in rigorous enough terms on how we capture these individuals under the law," Mr McNulty said. "It may well be that we can do with a degree more rigour within the law and control orders are inappropriate.

"Until someone comes up with something more appropriate we are always going to have this twilight zone."

He also told the second annual Home Land and Border Security 2007 conference that the public will play a growing part in the fight against terrorism.

He thanked the British people for their "stoicism and good humour" in the wake of last week's attempted terrorist attacks and said that "an increasing contribution would be made by the private sector and the broader public in combating attempts by terrorists to kill and maim".

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