Two Days Ahead of the UK Election, Theresa May Proposes Ripping Up Human Rights Laws

This just in from The Guardian—in response to the recent terror attacks in London, and two days ahead of an increasingly uncertain election, Prime Minister Theresa May has opened herself up to curtailing human rights laws in the service of fighting terror. The quote:

“But I can tell you a few of the things I mean by that: I mean longer prison sentences for people convicted of terrorist offences. I mean making it easier for the authorities to deport foreign terror suspects to their own countries.

“And I mean doing more to restrict the freedom and the movements of terrorist suspects when we have enough evidence to know they present a threat, but not enough evidence to prosecute them in full in court.

“And if human rights laws stop us from doing it, we will change those laws so we can do it.”

What does this actually mean, in practical terms? The Guardian muses that it might refer to curfews, restricting associates and communication in general, and, yes, a travel ban. These measures are actually comparable to a series of laws call “control orders” which were proposed by Labour in the pre-Corbyn leadership era, but repeatedly struck down by the courts. But regardless of whether May’s latest claims are even faintly realistic, she clearly hopes the tough talk will help her in Thursday’s contest.