Counter-Terrorism Bill

My Lords, I look forward keenly to the maiden speech of the noble Baroness, Lady Manningham-Buller. We are very lucky to have her in this House. Having worked with her on the sort of issues that we are dealing with today, I know the huge contribution that she has made to the defence of the United Kingdom. I shall speak of only one issue in my remarks: the extension of pre-charge detention to 42 days. We are a country where there is in a meaningful sense both freedom and security. Both are important to our well-being and we understand the importance of both. We restrict freedom when we have to provide security and, generally as a nation, we have got the balance right. Getting the balance right requires open debate and mutual trust. We should respect both sides of the debate. On these issues, we should as legislators understand that we are trying to get the right policy answer. That is what the public expect of us. We should pay special attention to what the Government say on these matters, not only because, as I know from my own experience, these judgments are difficult, but above all because of the consequences to innocent lives if atrocities occur as a result of our getting it wrong. However, I am absolutely clear that no advantage in fighting terrorism will be obtained by extending pre-charge detention to 42 days. I will therefore oppose this part of the Bill. The terrorism backed and driven by al-Qaeda has raised new difficulties that everybody in this House will acknowledge: the need for long-term forensic examination of computers; the important links with abroad, in particular Pakistan; and, as my noble friend Lord West on the Front Bench said, the fact that the police often have to intervene earlier than simply evidence gathering would suggest to protect lives. Equally, it is accepted that a significant number of plots have to be fought against. It is also agreed that prosecuting terrorists in the conventional courts is one of our most critical defences against terrorism. In most cases—I emphasise ““most””—criminal charges may be laid and further detention justified after charge only if there is a 50 per cent or more chance of success before the jury and public interest requires the prosecution. In most terrorist cases of any complexity, it takes longer than 14 days. Indeed, it takes longer than 28 days; it takes many months in many cases to gather the evidence to establish the 50 per cent-plus. It was because of that that the proposal to extend the pre-charge detention period to 90 days was made. I supported that privately and publicly. Parliament rejected that proposal. Since it did so, the Crown Prosecution Service has successfully used what is described as the threshold test in the vast majority of cases to charge terrorist defendants. The threshold test allows charging where the evidence to show 50 per cent-plus prospects is not yet available but the authorities believe on reasonable grounds that it will become available and where, if the detainee were released, he would be a danger to individuals or the community at large.