The British government has pledged to “beef up” funding for prisons to tackle radicalisation after a report said jails had failed to recognise the dangers posed by Islamist gangs and convicted terrorists.
Jonathan Hall QC, the independent reviewer of terrorist legislation, said prisons should not be places where convicted terrorists or those with terrorist links have opportunities to plan new attacks.
The Terrorism in Prisons report was commissioned after the November 2019 London Bridge terror attack in which Saskia Jones, 23, and Jack Merritt, 25, were killed.
Usman Khan, a convicted terrorist who had recently been released from prison, launched his attack at an event at Fishmongers’ Hall. Khan, who was wearing a fake suicide vest, was shot dead by armed police on London Bridge after running out of the building.
More than 200 terrorist convicts are in prisons in England and Wales, while a further 200 behind bars have links to terrorism and are deemed at risk of carrying out an attack.
Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said the Conservative-led government was committed to isolating radicalisers in prisons and accepted the independent review “pretty much in full”.
He said the threat of terrorist attacks being planned in prisons was increasing because more and more terrorists were being locked up. Mr Raab admitted the government has “to do more to prevent extremists tainting the well”.
He said separation centres within prisons, used to isolate the most radical inmates, should be used more.
“We need to probably make greater use of that so I’m beefing up the money to target those offenders who need to be removed,” he told Sky News. “And finally, we will need this Bill of Rights to replace the Human Rights Act to stop the legal attrition that we’re already starting to see, with terrorists and extremists claiming a right to socialise within prison when actually what they want to do is radicalise.”
Under the government’s new UK Bill of Rights inmates will not have a right to socialise in prison.
In his report, Mr Hall said the prison service had “lost its role in the national endeavour to reduce the risk of terrorism".
He also said the impact of Islamist gangs on prison culture had been underappreciated.
Mr Raab told Times Radio that “sensibilities” around cultural or religious practices should not prevent prisons from cracking down on radicalisation.
He said inmates responsible for preparing meals should not have access to private areas of prison kitchens without supervision.
“It’s one thing to say, of course, we need to respect the right for prisoners to be able to prepare halal food. It is another thing for them to say that kitchens are no-go areas for anyone that doesn’t respect their rules,” he told Times Radio.
“That is the kind of finely balanced judgment call, decision, set of actions, that the prison service need to monitor and they do monitor it very carefully.
“But you can see it’s fiendishly difficult. What we’re saying and what Jonathan Hall says, and I think he’s right, is we have to nip in the bud much earlier the kind of stepping away from just respecting your own faith to controlling and coercing others, because that is the precursor to the kind of radicalisation that taints the well inside prisons.”
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
MATCH INFO
What: India v Afghanistan, first Test
When: Starts Thursday
Where: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengalaru
The five pillars of Islam
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
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Rooney's club record
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Thursday’s fixtures
6pm: Hyderabad Nawabs v Pakhtoon Warriors
10pm: Lahore Sikandars v Pakhtoon Blasters
Teams
Chennai Knights, Lahore Sikandars, Pakhtoon Blasters, Abu Dhabi Stars, Abu Dhabi Dragons, Pakhtoon Warriors and Hyderabad Nawabs.
Squad rules
All teams consist of 15-player squads that include those contracted in the diamond (3), platinum (2) and gold (2) categories, plus eight free to sign team members.
Tournament rules
The matches are of 25 over-a-side with an 8-over power play in which only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle. Teams play in a single round robin league followed by the semi-finals and final. The league toppers will feature in the semi-final eliminator.
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Agility reduces risk of falls
Increased risk of obesity and mental health issues
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Vegetarian diet reduces obesity
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Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
SCORES IN BRIEF
New Zealand 153 and 56 for 1 in 22.4 overs at close
Pakistan 227
(Babar 62, Asad 43, Boult 4-54, De Grandhomme 2-30, Patel 2-64)
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FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT)
Tuesday
Mairobr v Liverpool
Spartak Moscow v Sevilla
Feyenoord v Shakhtar Donetsk
Manchester City v Napoli
Monaco v Besiktas
RB Leipzig v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid v Tottenham Hotspur
Wednesday
Benfica v Manchester United
CSKA Moscow v Basel
Bayern Munich v Celtic
Anderlecht v Paris Saint-Germain
Qarabag v Atletico Madrid
Chelsea v Roma
Barcelona v Olympiakos
Juventus v Sporting Lisbon
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
SHAITTAN
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if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.
The trains
Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.
The hotels
Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.
'Manmarziyaan' (Colour Yellow Productions, Phantom Films)
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal
Rating: 3.5/5
