Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism

I made my position clear in the previous debate. I believe that, as the hon. Gentleman says, we should apply habeas corpus and have due process of law. If the Government wanted to propose alterations to those processes, they should have done so swiftly with primary legislation and a thorough debate. We had a debate about the enactment of control orders and the promise of an opportunity of primary legislation, that would be fully debated in this House within a limited period of time. That has not occurred and has yet again been put off. Several people are suffering as a result of control orders—not only the individuals themselves, who have as yet had nothing proven against them in law, but more importantly their wives and children, against whom we have no objections or allegations. They are suffering through a lack of support from the state and a lack of adequate consideration of the proportionality of the effects of control orders in these individual cases. I urge the Minister not only to bring back as swiftly as possible the debate about primary legislation but to provide a report on the impact of control orders on the individuals concerned, on a case-by-case basis, which could be examined by Members who were involved in the original debate on the process. It is the Government’s responsibility to protect those individuals, who have not as yet been prosecuted for anything, and, more importantly, to protect their families and give them adequate support.