Blog Articles
The Qatada Complex
When the celebrated lawyer Gareth Peirce suggested that I drop in on "Mr Othman" (Abu Qatada) for a cup of tea at his house, I jumped at the chance. Charismatic even in a grey sweatsuit, he [...]
Intelligence handling and the recent terrorist attacks
After many years of relative failure, this spring has seen terrorists mount vile and contemptible attacks at Westminster Bridge, Manchester Arena, London Bridge and Finsbury Park. I have been asked, by letter from the Home Secretary of 28 June, to provide [...]
Not for wimps: the pragmatic case for human rights
Internationally recognised human rights standards are an essential benchmark for anyone who seeks an informed view on the laws governing terrorism, surveillance and extremism. But contrary to the belief propagated by some, those standards do not amount to unrealistic aspirations, dreamed [...]
Terrorism, Surveillance and Extremism
This is not a blog post as such, but a compilation. I thought it might be useful to link to what I have had to say in the past several years on counter-terrorism, surveillance and countering extremism. Counter-Terrorism In this field, my [...]
Purdah – Lifting the Veil
During this General Election campaign there have been several disputes over the application of pre-election purdah - ironically, a practice that was specifically designed to avoid imbroiling the Civil Service in controversy. My own last report as Independent Reviewer, on Deportation [...]
Brexit: the security dimension
My article about Brexit and Security ("Terrorism: the EU picture") has just been published in Counsel Magazine. In summary: The leadership role in the EU exercised by the UK in matters relating to security (in particular [...]