Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill

Having listened to the noble Lord, Lord Lester, I am no lawyer and can be outgunned from every direction on that front. However, I have been a soldier for a long time. I have observed internal security operations in Northern Ireland over many years, and am particularly aware of the pressures on young soldiers when they are deployed on internal security operations. The first principle is that a soldier is only deployed on internal security operations in some form of action in direct support of the civil power; the police. The police are in charge of that operation and in charge of those soldiers. They have the authority. I can foresee many problems if the amendment proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Lester, is agreed to. First, from a training point of view, it is yet one more piece of paper that you have to fumble to read in the middle of an operation to work out what you have to do. Secondly, there are times when it would be totally impractical. You could be trying to arrest the guy and he could disappear behind the hedge pretty quickly or into a ditch. That would not be the time to explain to him carefully that you have just seen him throwing bombs. By and large, I do not support this amendment.