Serious Crime Bill [HL]

My Lords, I deeply apologise for arriving late. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights. We have looked at this matter and have decided, as has the House of Lords Constitution Committee, that it is against the European Convention on Human Rights. If people sign conventions, saying that they will stick to them, they should not then go around passing Acts of Parliament to avoid doing so. I shall vote with the Liberals on this occasion and I regret to say that I am deeply upset that my own party is not taking the libertarian stance that it should—history dictates that it should do so. However, I am not in the slightest bit surprised that the party opposite is bringing in yet more illiberal, unconstitutional measures that affect the liberty of the subject. We all know that heavy men in Marbella with gold chains around their necks and who drive Bob Marley wagons are not the most popular people on earth. We may think that they are guilty of something, but we have to prove it. Their rights need protection in the same way as anyone else’s rights. This Bill does not do that. The noble Baroness opposite obviously thinks that that is funny. I do not. It is disgraceful that we should be considering yet another piece of legislation that takes away the rights of the British subject and I shall, therefore, with relish, vote with the Liberals.