UK to announce new anti-terrorism law

British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to announce a new anti-terrorism bill due for introduction in the UK Queen’s upcoming speech. The PM will tell the National Security Council a counter-extremism bill will be in the Queen's speech on 27 of May, the state-run BBC reported Wednesday. The premier is reportedly due to introduce a raft of new powers against radicalization, saying the UK has been a "passively tolerant society" for too long.

The bill will include new immigration rules, powers to close down premises used by extremists and "extremism disruption orders." Cameron will say a "poisonous" extremist ideology must be confronted, the report added. The ideas were initially put forth by Home Secretary Theresa May at the parliament before the May 7 general election. British Conservatives have so far been unable to secure the backing of their previous coalition partners (Liberal Democrats) for the measures.

But now that a full-Tory government is in place, the bill might face less friction at Westminster. The measures are also expected to introduce banning orders for ‘extremist organizations who use hate speech in public places,’ but whose activities fall short of it being proscribed as a terror group. This is while the UK’s terror threat level was raised from substantial to severe last August in response to the conflicts in Syria and Iraq. The bill has already created controversy, with campaigners accusing the government of infringing on human rights and civil liberties.