Terrorism Bill

I had complete confidence that my right hon. Friend would not run away from taking my intervention. Is it not the case that any period of more than 14 days would cause certain difficulties? I happen to have greater sympathy with the Government on the extension of time than some of my hon. Friends, but does my right hon. Friend agree that any extension would give rise to two specific problems? First, the judicial authority would have to be a senior judge, because such cases are few and far between. Secondly, if the Government were to be completely honest, they would have to admit that the proposals run up against the Human Rights Act 1998—although the Home Secretary refused to admit that on 20 July, when I questioned him. I suspect that that is why he ran away today. We should add the words ““not withstanding the Human Rights Act 1998”” to the provision, so that we do not get into a legal quagmire.