In December the Government agreed to amend its Terrorism Bill to ensure that the counter-terrorism plans do not undermine the teaching of chemistry. The amendment follows concerns expressed by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) to the Government.  

The hotly debated legislation creates several new offences including, encouraging or glorifying terrorism and preparing terrorist acts. The RSC’s concerns focused on Clause 6(1)(b) of the Bill which, in the initial draft, made it a criminal offence, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, for anyone who ‘provides instruction or training’ in certain skills and who ‘knows or suspects’ that the person receiving such training might use it for terrorism. The skills defined by the Bill include ‘making, handling or use of a noxious substance’ and ‘any method or technique for doing anything’ used for the purposes of terrorism.  

The RSC argued that with the words ‘or suspects’ the Bill was too broadly drafted because legitimate scientific work could be affected and chemists be put at risk of prosecution. This, the Society believed, could undermine the teaching of chemistry in HE, in particular. Following discussions with Home Office Minister of State, Baroness Scotland QC, and her officials, the Government acted upon the RSC’s case and tabled an amendment to omit the words ‘or suspects’ from the Bill and thus narrow the scope of the legislation. 

Chemistry teachers can rest even easier in their teaching labs following the announcement that the Government also intends to table further amendments to the Bill at the report stage. These will ensure that ‘those who act appropriately and professionally… will not be criminalised by [the Bill]’ and which accordingly will ‘offer further protection for chemistry teachers’.