Bribery Bill [HL]

But if I am right, powers derived from RIPA have been used on waste disposal instances. That is what I am complaining about. On Clause 12, the Select Committee report states that law enforcement agencies, ""include not only the police, but also HM Revenue and Customs and the UK Borders Agency, as well as local authority trading standards and environmental health officers"." Those people should not be given the power to bribe. To me, it is as simple as that. I turn to the Army and the secret services. It is perfectly reasonable that the secret services should allow James Bond to bribe the head of SMERSH. Under those circumstances, the head of SMERSH would be acting improperly according to his own lights, but we would want very much to know about it. However, such action should be taken only with proper prior authority. There is the saying that you cannot buy an Afghan, you can only rent him. The other day it was noticed that the Italians, using traditions that go back deep into the inter-city state politics of the 12th century, bribed the Taliban to keep quiet all around them, and the area was peaceful. I do not know whether that is right or wrong, but it may be possible to argue that such behaviour should be allowed as a public interest duty. It was noticeable that after they forgot to tell the French that they had been bribing, 10 or 11 French people were killed, which was serious. We should not hamper the Armed Forces or the dirty work of espionage agents by not allowing them, with high-level prior consent, to behave in that way. This is a very good Bill, except for Clause 12. I certainly support it and repeat that it was a privilege to serve under the noble Viscount, Lord Colville.