The UK's terrorism watchdog renewed calls for extremists to be given lie detector tests, arguing that deradicalisation programmes do not work.
Jonathan Hall QC, the UK's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said there was "no magic bullet or special pill" that could help to change convicted extremists.
Mr Hall told The Times that schemes should be offered in conjunction with heavy supervision and said that the public should be under "no illusion" that they would be effective.
“There is no magic bullet, there is no special pill you can take that deradicalises people, whether they’re coming back from overseas from Syria or whether they're being released from prison," he said.
"It's a pretty difficult, complex and fraught process. You can’t tell the public that you can place someone with a theological mentor ... and they’ll come out the other side. It’s far more difficult than that.
“I can see why people try, because if you didn’t try, it would be throwing away all hope, and these offenders are also subjected to some pretty major restrictions, so it’s worth giving them an opportunity to change. And there will be some who will change, but you should be under no illusions. It is not some automatic process. And in many cases it simply won’t work. It doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying.”
This year, Mr Hall published a review into last year's terrorist attack near London Bridge in which two people were killed, and made 45 recommendations.
In it, he recommended that terrorist offenders should take lie detector tests. The Home Office is still considering his report.
Cambridge University graduates Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, were fatally stabbed by Usman Khan during a prisoner rehabilitation programme held near London Bridge in November 2019.
Khan, 28, was out on licence when he attended the event organised by the university after being released early from a prison sentence for plotting to bomb the city’s stock exchange.
Mr Hall's comments come as the UK government appeals against the return to the UK of Shamima Begum, the London schoolgirl who left to join ISIS and was stripped of her British citizenship.
A debate has been ongoing over whether she should be allowed to return and receive deradicalisation support.
In a second report, published in March, Mr Hall made 28 recommendations to Home Secretary Priti Patel to overhaul the UK’s terrorism laws.
Recently, Ms Patel said she had rejected 15 of them, that the government was still considering three, and had partially accepted another.
One of his recommendations on Temporary Exclusion Orders has been accepted by Ms Patel.
TEOs are used as a tool by the UK to deal with terrorist fighters and suspected terrorists returning to the country from abroad.
They enable the government to take away their passports upon their return to the UK, impose strict monitoring conditions on them and require that they attend deradicalisation schemes.
Mr Hall had pointed to a gap in the law that resulted in two-year TEOs being imposed on people before they returned, which would then expire within months of them being in the UK. This meant the courses did not have time to be effective. He said the orders should start when people landed in the UK.
Ms Patel also agreed to consider imposing TEOs on non-British citizens.
The UK runs the anti-radicalisation Prevent programme, which offers practical help to prevent individuals from being drawn into extremism, and the Channel programme, which intervenes in cases where someone is already on that path.
Figures released last month showed Islamist radicalisation referrals to Prevent have risen for the first time in four years.
Prevent, which was launched to monitor potential terrorist activity in the UK, reported a 10 per cent increase in cases flagged to the authorities between April 2019 and March of this year.
When authorities decide there is a risk that a person referred to Prevent could be drawn into terrorism, they are assessed as part of the Channel scheme and potentially taken on as a case. Engagement with the scheme is voluntary and it is not a criminal sanction.
Channel recorded its highest yet number of referrals over the past year, with 697 of the 1,424 referrals examined taken on as cases.
How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
Results
United States beat UAE by three wickets
United States beat Scotland by 35 runs
UAE v Scotland – no result
United States beat UAE by 98 runs
Scotland beat United States by four wickets
Fixtures
Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland
Admission is free
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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Thanksgiving meals to try
World Cut Steakhouse, Habtoor Palace Hotel, Dubai. On Thursday evening, head chef Diego Solis will be serving a high-end sounding four-course meal that features chestnut veloute with smoked duck breast, turkey roulade accompanied by winter vegetables and foie gras and pecan pie, cranberry compote and popcorn ice cream.
Jones the Grocer, various locations across the UAE. Jones’s take-home holiday menu delivers on the favourites: whole roast turkeys, an array of accompaniments (duck fat roast potatoes, sausages wrapped in beef bacon, honey-glazed parsnips and carrots) and more, as well as festive food platters, canapes and both apple and pumpkin pies.
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, The Address Hotel, Dubai. This New Orleans-style restaurant is keen to take the stress out of entertaining, so until December 25 you can order a full seasonal meal from its Takeaway Turkey Feast menu, which features turkey, homemade gravy and a selection of sides – think green beans with almond flakes, roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole and bread stuffing – to pick up and eat at home.
The Mattar Farm Kitchen, Dubai. From now until Christmas, Hattem Mattar and his team will be producing game- changing smoked turkeys that you can enjoy at home over the festive period.
Nolu’s, The Galleria Mall, Maryah Island Abu Dhabi. With much of the menu focused on a California inspired “farm to table” approach (with Afghani influence), it only seems right that Nolu’s will be serving their take on the Thanksgiving spread, with a brunch at the Downtown location from 12pm to 4pm on Friday.
England's lowest Test innings
- 45 v Australia in Sydney, January 28, 1887
- 46 v West Indies in Port of Spain, March 25, 1994
- 51 v West Indies in Kingston, February 4, 2009
- 52 v Australia at The Oval, August 14, 1948
- 53 v Australia at Lord's, July 16, 1888
- 58 v New Zealand in Auckland, March 22, 2018
Scores
New Zealand 266 for 9 in 50 overs
Pakistan 219 all out in 47.2 overs
New Zealand win by 47 runs
Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
