It has not been a very happy start to the new year for Theresa May, who will have to answer difficult questions in the Commons about the disappearance of a terrorism suspect. Ibrahim Magog has been on the run since Christmas eve when police first realised he had failed to meet the conditions of his overnight residence requirements.
Magog has been under investigation for two years and is believed to have trained with al-Shabaab, a Somali terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda. The group has waged a violent campaign in East Africa and has long threatened attacks against the West (although none have actually materialised). What will trouble the Home Secretary most is that Magog was subject to Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures which she introduced last year to replace Control Orders.
The idea was that TPIMs should address the concerns of civil liberties campaigners who argued that Control Orders violated the human rights of suspects.
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