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Business of the House

My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and for Defence have regularly come before the House to set out the position in Iraq. Foreign Office questions takes place next Wednesday, I believe. There are regular opportunities for hon. Members to raise the matter of the political situation in Iraq, and I have never been in any doubt that they seek every opportunity to do so, and very successfully. I am slightly surprised, but perhaps I should not be, to hear yet again Liberal Democrats not even prepared to see effective enforcement of important legislation that safeguards our security and liberties. If the hon. Gentleman is really telling the House that there are no circumstances in which the Attorney-General should exercise long-standing powers under the Official Secrets Act, he needs to say so a little more plainly, rather than resorting to the kind of sub-editor’s headlines that he tends to speak in. The Attorney-General has a legal responsibility, which I suspect was given to him by a Liberal Government. It needs to be exercised from time to time. That is done with great restraint and only in certain limited circumstances, but it is an important power that must be exercised from time to time. I have said all that I intend to say about the debate on policing. It is an important matter. I have dealt with the hon. Gentleman’s final point already.