The counter-terrorism bill currently before Parliament would give the
Home Secretary unilateral authority to cancel the passports of British
citizens, in effect revoking their citizenship and potentially
stranding them abroad as stateless persons, all without the involvement
of any judge or court.	This great executive power would be all too
easily abused and ought not to be vested in any one office, no matter
who may be occupying that office, Theresa May or one of her successors.
 Even leaving aside this potential for abuse of power, persons
suspected of terror offences can be most easily brought to justice if
they are permitted to return to the United Kingdom where they can be
swiftly arrested, charged and tried.

Many Conservatives, including former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis,
plan to support amendments tabled this past week by the current Shadow
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper which would force the Home Secretary to
gain judicial approval before exercising this authority to revoke a
passport.  As your colleague Mr Davis has observed, "There are plenty
of countries that can take away your passport at the stroke of a pen,
but they tend to be places like North Korea."  I hope that you will
join Mr Davis and Ms Cooper in supporting this bipartisan amendment,
and that we in Britain will not sink to the level of totalitarian
states in our struggle against totalitarian ideologies.