THIS week, Parliament debated the government’s new Counter-Terrorism Bill. In that debate, some of us opposed the continuation of the divisive Prevent programme. This position should be taken up not only by the left as a whole but by the labour movement, by all those fighting for a less divided society. It should also be adopted by all of us who want to combat the scourge of terrorism, which increasingly has a far-right component as well as terrorists whose outlook is based on some distorted view of the ravages in the Middle East.

The stakes in any debate about terrorism and how to successfully combat it are extremely high. They involve the lives and liberties of us all. Children as well as adults have lost their lives in the terrible attacks that have taken place, such as the horrific Manchester Arena bombing. Police officers have been murdered, among them PC Keith Palmer. We were all shocked by the murder of a MP when Jo Cox was brutally taken from us. There have been many others and it is right that we remember them all.

The purpose of any counter-terror legislation should be to minimise the recurrence of these terrible incidents. This needs a cool head and careful consideration of the effectiveness of all measures — whether they actually help to minimise terror attacks or whether they are ineffective or even hinder our counter-terror efforts.