This afternoon, after 4pm in the House of Lords, I will move Amendment 418 to the Crime and Policing Bill to close a dangerous loophole in our law — one that allows the glorification of terrorism to continue largely unchecked.
For 20 years, the UK has had an offence covering the glorification of terrorism. But it is not working. The current law requires proof that someone praising terrorism intended others to copy it.
That threshold is so high that it has made prosecutions rare. Extremism today does not operate through direct instruction. It spreads through suggestion, slogans and the steady normalisation of violence. People justify it, excuse it and celebrate it — and the law struggles to respond.
My amendment removes that barrier. It allows action where terrorism is glorified in a way that could reasonably be understood as something to be emulated — whether linked to a proscribed organisation or carried out by individuals acting alone. This is not theoretical. It is already happening.
One in five people in Britain now believes political violence can be justified in some circumstances. On our campuses, nearly half of the students report hearing slogans glorifying terrorist organisations.
The same proportion have seen attempts to justify atrocities such as October 7.
We must close the dangerous loophole in our law that allows the glorification of terrorism - Baroness Foster
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This is how the ground shifts. What was once unthinkable becomes arguable. I have seen the consequences of that thinking.
Terrorism is not a slogan.
It is devastation that lasts generations. Yet there have been virtually no prosecutions under the current law in Northern Ireland, and very few across the UK, despite clear evidence that the problem is growing. That tells us the law is no longer fit for purpose.
This amendment is not about restricting legitimate debate. It is about drawing a clear line: praising terrorism in a way that risks influencing others must have consequences.
The question for Parliament today is simple. Do we act — or do we allow this drift to continue?
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