My Lords, I declare an interest as chair of University College London Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust and of Whittington Health NHS Trust which, given what we are discussing now, is perhaps relevant. There is very little that I can add to the extraordinarily powerful arguments just made by the right reverend Prelate, but I do want to say two things. One is about torture. If someone has been the victim of torture and medical professionals make a report to the Home Secretary to that fact, that person ought to be able to appeal against detention in those first 28 days. The reason for that—for those who have not spent time with those who have been victims of torture—is the very considerable terror that many of those people experience if detained in any way. If they experience that form of terror, they are then very likely to be suicidal and in a situation within detention where the sort of holistic treatment they would need is simply not available.
The second point is about young people particularly who have come to these shores and have experienced detention in their own countries. They have perhaps not been tortured but have been detained for very long periods away from families and friends. I have talked to quite a lot of them because we have a small family charity that provides access to education for young asylum seekers who have no recourse to public funds. They would say that they are unable to cope with being confined in small spaces because of their experience in their home countries. That is another group of people, not necessary those who have been tortured but those who already have either a defined mental illness or a predisposition to one, who ought to be given a protection in those first 28 days.
I very much hope that the Minister will be able to answer the points made by the right reverend Prelate and these two additional points and allow those people who have a medical report to make an appeal for judicial review within their first 28 days.