Clause 5— Preparation of Terrorist Acts
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
May I tell my hon. Friend the Minister that the wording of clause 5 underscores yet again the difficulties that we have as legislators in defining terrorism? Given the way the clause is worded, as I   understand it, if I give 25p to collection for the Karen National Liberation Army in Burma, I can be sentenced to life imprisonment. As someone who wishes to fight oppression and has been political all his life, and recognising that the state of Burma is in no way democratic, that it should be resisted and that that resistance should occasionally take a quasi-military form against the military, I find that outrageous. Given the difficulty with the lack of clarity about what is terrorism, if I give 25p to the KNLA or a similar organisation, I can go to prison for life.