Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to increase sentences for terror offences.

The Counter Terrorism and Sentencing Act 2021 marked a major overhaul of terrorist sentencing, including measures to strengthen the sentencing options available, improve monitoring in the community, and remove early release for the most serious offenders. Central to these measures was the introduction of a new ‘Serious Terrorism Sentence’ for dangerous offenders with a 14-year minimum prison term and up to 25 years on licence.

This Act built upon the emergency legislation passed in February 2020, the Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) (TORER) Act which retrospectively ended automatic early release for terrorists serving standard determinate sentences. We have also introduced new measures to strengthen the management of terrorist offenders in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

We keep this vital area under constant review in order to ensure that our courts are able to impose strong penalties for those who threaten our national security.