Thread by @Steven_Swinford

BREAKING

Govt to table emergency legislation that will *retrospectively* end automatic early release for 220 convicted terrorists currently behind bars

An extraordinary step - legislation could go down this week

Ministers braced for legal challenge but determined to push ahead

Robert Buckland, Justice Secretary, says 'underlying principle has to be that offenders will no longer be released automatically at the halfway point of their sentences'

The earliest point they will not be released is once they have served 2/3 of sentence

This is the legislative power that comes with an 80-strong majority

Emergency legislation to retrospectively end automatic early release of convicted terrorists can be pushed through Parliament in a couple of weeks

Responding to concerns about the risk of legal challenge, Robert Buckland says that emergency legislation will deal with *administration* of sentence, not the sentence itself

Sounds like Govt legal advice is clear that move can be justified

David Davis supportive of Govt emergency legislation to end automatic early release of convicted terrorists:

'In case of convicted terrorists public safety must come first. It is impossible to accurately assess risk of individual because many of most dangerous lie persuasively'

Sounds like control orders for convicted terrorists won't be making a comeback any time soon

Robert Buckland: 'They were facing constant challenge in the courts.

'It was essential to make sure we had measures to make the regime invulnerable to such challenge'