Counter-Terrorism Bill

My Lords, I most certainly will do that. I was about to mention the talk on the Clapham omnibus. Clearly, we have to think very carefully about legislation but, equally, we must be aware of what people think about these things. It is interesting that in my position—I think that a lot of my friends still think that I am a Conservative or something—I get a lot of input from middle England. Certainly, a number of those people think that we need to look at this closely. I live in Hackney, so I get quite a good input from my neighbours, too. I have had a lot of building work done and know quite a lot of builders, so I have also been getting the Essex man input. I have to say that there seems to be a general consensus. That is a small group, but one must take it into account. The noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, referred to the debate on control orders running from 11 am on one day to 7 pm on the next. We might do longer than that as this Bill moves through the House and I shall practise building my stamina for when that happens. Many speakers have remarked that the issues we have been debating should be above party politics. In most cases, though I fear not all, the debate has shown that to be true of this House. As the Bill proceeds, I am sure noble Lords will continue to approach it in that way. There are many points that I have not been able to address and I apologise for that but we will have a chance to debate all of these things in Committee and at Report. I have been not a little surprised to find that the media feel that they can predict the outcome of the debate in your Lordships’ House so easily. Clearly I hope that they will be proved wrong. The last time I embarked on what was fanfared by the media as a forlorn hope was during the retaking of the Falkland Islands. When it comes to dealing with terrorism, my view is straightforward. We cannot simply hope for the best. That is only possible for those who are not in power and have no responsibility. We must have plans in place that mean we can cope with the worst and the proposals in the Bill in general, and those on pre-charge in particular, do just that. I therefore commend this Bill to the House. On Question, Bill read a second time, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House.