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Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism

First, the Government have always argued that the Secretary of State was entitled to take a cautious approach when considering the PMOI's application for de-proscription. No one, not least POAC, argues that when the original proscription was made in 2001, it was not a terrorist organisation. Indeed, the POAC judgment says that there were reasonable grounds for the belief of the Secretary of State that the PMOI was ““concerned in terrorism”” at the date that it was originally proscribed, 29 March 2001. As I tried to show in my introductory remarks, it is the PMOI's assertion—we would say—from 2003 onwards that it had forsaken the armed struggle. Versus POAC's ultimate decision to take that at face value, the Government took the more cautious approach that it was not the case. The notion that we are dealing with some wonderful little gang of democrats who have never raised arms in anger, or taken terrorist action, is erroneous and not the case at all. Our contention was that, given its long and active history of committing acts of terrorism, and its failure publicly to renounce terrorism or voluntarily surrender its weapons, it should remain proscribed, on the criteria that it remains involved, or potentially involved, in terrorism, and no more.