Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill

My Lords, I, too, support the amendment, for reasons that have been stated many times before but are worth saying again. The ombudsman’s report shows that she and her staff have absolutely no understanding of how either military intelligence or police intelligence operate in a time that is virtually war. We are exposed to a number of terrorist threats from various quarters. The IRA, in the past, has had very close connections with a number of the people who are now giving us trouble, and there will still be individuals who will do that. They will be watching with great care any information that is obligingly provided by such things as the ombudsman’s report. It is extremely important that it should be absolutely certain that the ombudsman can in no way damage our relations with other security services or damage existing operations. I do not impugn her honour; it is just that she does not understand that some of the things that she says could do us great damage. I hope that the greatest care will be taken to limit her activities in this regard, in exactly the same way as everything else, in the interests of national security, which is not a local matter but a national matter.