Bribery Bill [HL]

My Lords, following on what has just been said by the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, and others, this is a remarkably big extension of what was set out in the draft Bill, and I hope that the Government will now give us an explanation of why this has happened. The intelligence services and GCHQ were included in the draft legislation we considered in the Joint Committee. Now we have a large range of law enforcement agencies—and it is a large range—as well as the security services and the Armed Forces, and it has never been explained. There is nothing about it in the Explanatory Notes whatever, and nothing in the Government’s response to the Joint Committee. I am concerned about this because the Government’s defence of the original proposals in the draft Bill was that it was perfectly all right for the intelligence services and GCHQ because under the Intelligence Services Act 1994, first, you have to have a warrant from the Secretary of State issued in person or by a very senior official, and it lasts for only six months; secondly, that this is a special matter and it has been dealt with specifically by Parliament; and thirdly, there would be a review of everything that had been done by a parliamentary committee. Added to this Bill are the enforcement agencies, the security services and the Armed Forces for whom no provision is made for obtaining a warrant, no time limit on any authorisation that may be obtained, and no subsequent scrutiny of what they have done. That knocks all the chocks out from underneath the defence given by the Government to the original proposition because it is not now on all fours with what the Government originally proposed. What is the process of authorisation going to be for this? Who is going to give it, and how long will it last? What scrutiny procedure will take place? Enforcement agencies are to some extent governed under RIPA and there is in place a procedure, of which I declare that I am a part, in that it is looked at by the commissioner in charge of RIPA affairs, but that is not the same as granting an authorisation in the first place, nor is there any time limit on it. Frankly, I do not understand why this large extension of these powers has been introduced without either any explanation or safeguards. Parliament is due an explanation from the Government of why this has been done.