New terror laws ’would criminalise thought’, watchdog warns
▻http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-41744815
Home Secretary Amber Rudd recently announced plans to increase jail terms for those found guilty to 15 years.
But Max Hill QC said “thought without action” was not terrorism and it would be “quite wrong” to create new laws which treat it as such.
Downing Street said a “clear message” needed to be sent to terrorists.
Following the spate of terror attacks, Theresa May declared “enough is enough” and vowed to crack down on extremism.
Earlier this month, Ms Rudd stated her intention of increasing prison sentences for people who repeatedly stream terror-related content online.
Currently, the law only applies to material downloaded and stored, and comes with a maximum penalty of 10 years.