Terrorism (Detention and Human Rights)

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The truth is that there was no opportunity to engage in a serious discussion, based on the evidence, with any organisations in the Muslim community. Like many hon. Members, they were trying to make a decision based on what turned out to be inadequate and partial information. We warned of the dangers in the report that we are discussing when we said:"““Extended pre-charge detention carries the danger, which should not be underestimated, of antagonising many who currently recognise the need for co-operating with the police, and hence the need to be very cautious before extending the period of detention beyond 28 days.””" What matters is not just what legislation the House passes, but the process we go through before we pass it. There are lessons on that to be drawn from both reports. On the process of policy making, we highlight the fact that there was no formal Association of Chief Police Officers business case. It is fair to say that that is not the only time that that has happened. Having been a Minister with responsibility for the police, I have been in receipt of an extensive analysis—ACPO usually refers to that as a business case—of a particular problem to justify perhaps a new piece of legislation or a particular type of operation or investment in a certain area. No such formal process was undertaken by ACPO, and that was confirmed to us in evidence to the Committee. It was clear that there was no rigorous scrutiny or challenge to the ACPO case by the Home Office or No. 10 Downing street. That again was confirmed to us during our inquiry.