David Cameron currently thinks the coalition is heading for a ‘f***ing car
crash’ on Control Orders. While the Home Secretary Teresa May is now convinced of their necessity, many Liberal Democrats and some Conservatives disagree.
Everyone would prefer potential terrorists be prosecuted, but sensitive counter-terrorism evidence cannot always be used in a criminal court. In addition, the European Convention on Human Rights decrees that terror threats cannot be deported to states where they could be tortured. Hoping to circumvent these problems, the previous government attempted detention without trial. When this was struck out in the courts, Control Orders were the best viable option left.
Control Orders – of which there are nine currently in place – are criticised for being overly authoritarian. However, you don’t just stumble into one. Take the following two cases. Both are suspected al-Qaeda operatives and national security threats, yet cannot easily be prosecuted (membership of a proscribed organisation, for example, is notoriously difficult to prove to a prosecutable standard) and, as they are British citizens, cannot be deported.
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