UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday that 74 people jailed for terror offences were released early, asserting that he will take steps to ensure that perpetrators of a violent or terrorist offence are not set free easily.
Johnsons’s remarks came a day after the London Bridge attack where a convicted terrorist killed two people before being shot dead by police. The attacker, identified as Usman Khan, was a convicted terrorist who was jailed seven years ago over a plot to bomb the London Stock Exchange and to build a terrorist training camp on land owned by his family in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Khan had also discussed staging a Mumbai-style attack on the UK Parliament. He went on a rampage on Friday and killed one man and a woman and injured three others before being shot by armed police officers.
The Ministry of Justice launched an urgent review after the knife attack. Prime minister Johnson told the BBC that 74 people jailed for terror offences and released early will have their licence conditions reviewed. He claimed that scrapping early release would have stopped Khan, but the Labour Party is blaming budget cuts for “missed chances to intervene”.