ABSTRACT
Introduction Since the attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, terrorism has moved to the top of the political agenda in Britain. In the past five years, the British government has introduced a raft of anti-terror measures, including inter alia detention without trial for foreign nationals suspected of terrorist activities, restrictions on the right of assembly for public protest, and prohibitions on speech acts which “glorify” terrorism. Against a chorus of disapproval from civil libertarians, the government insists that these measures are necessary and proportionate responses to the threat from Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. Then Prime Minister Tony Blair responded to his critics by arguing that Britain faced a genuinely new kind of security threat requiring special measures to protect the public from terrorism. As he stated in his speech outlining the government’s response to the July 7 London bombings, “let no-one be in any doubt, the rules of the game are changing” (Prime Minister’s Office 2005).
