Counter-Terrorism Bill

I hope that I have not misrepresented the right hon. Gentleman's views. I spent some time reading his Committee's excellent report. I remind the Home Secretary, and indeed the House—not all Members seem to be familiar with this fact—that in order to detain someone for 28 days, an emergency extension is already required from the 14-day norm, and the provision has to be renewed annually. I inferred from the right hon. Gentleman's comments that only in a state of emergency would his Committee consider such a power to be justified, and I see him nodding. As he knows, Opposition Members—I can certainly speak for the official Opposition, and I suspect that I speak for others, too—also recognise that such powers might be required in a state of emergency. However, we highlighted the fact that the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 is a mechanism through which the Government could, if they wished, change the rules to allow longer detention. We also made the point that if we were to go down that road, there might be some mileage in setting out rather better rules than those provided in the Civil Contingencies Act, particularly for judicial scrutiny and oversight.