Counter-Terrorism Bill (Programme) (No. 2)

First, may I say to the Minister, as I said earlier, that I welcome the Government's important concession in amendment No. 60? He has listened to the concerns that were expressed, and I was happy to accept his assurances in Committee that the purpose of transfer to Northern Ireland was not to enable somebody to be tried there without a jury when the offence was of a nature that would have been tried with a jury here. I am grateful to him for having taken that on board. I also welcome the fact that the Government have signed up to what was originally our amendment No. 9—it is now Government amendment No. 9—which removes the ability for there to be retrospectivity. I wish the Government had taken the same view on amendment No. 11, on which we voted only a short time ago, because the provision that it addresses is also completely retrospective in its application. At least half the cake is better than no cake at all in terms of removing the most objectionable little bits that surface in pieces of legislation. I am conscious that the Liberals have tabled amendment No. 111, which seeks to ensure the concurrence of the Lord Advocate in prosecuting decisions. The Lord Advocate's evidence to the Public Bill Committee made it clear that she did not consider that there was any requirement for concurrence in respect of the Lord Advocate, because she simply did not envisage that, given the conventions and the strength of the relationship between her office and those of the Attorney-General and the DPP, there was any requirement for it. Although I fully understand the Liberal Democrats' motives for tabling the amendment, the Lord Advocate did not ask for such a provision and I would find it difficult to support something that is not being requested by the independent lawyer in charge of the prosecution service in Scotland.