Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism

I know that my hon. Friend feels that he may not be able to support these measures with conviction. I will try to persuade him to vote otherwise, but I understand the reasons for his concern. We have to look at the level of the threat and at the tools available. As I shall explain later, there are individuals, whom we have assessed through information, who remain a potential threat to the safety of my hon. Friend's citizens in Islington and my citizens in north Wales, who cannot be prosecuted because there is not enough evidence—although we believe them to be a threat—and whom we cannot deport, either because of the human rights record of the countries to which they might be deported or because they are British citizens. That judgment must be made. I accept that my hon. Friend may disagree—although I hope to persuade him not to—but the powers available to us are not sufficient to enable us to act in a way that would not potentially damage the security of the nation.