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Terrorism Bill

I am not convinced that it is. We have a definition of terrorism in the 2000 Act. Talking to the experts on counter-terrorism in the Metropolitan Police, as I do on a regular basis as a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, I am aware that they feel that we are facing the greatest threat that we have ever faced from terrorists. It is therefore a matter of some urgency that we have on the statute book a number of the provisions in the Bill to enable the police to be effective in tackling that threat. Therefore, with all due respect, I am sure that it is not really sensible for us to wait a year, six months, or however long it will take the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, to produce his definition. We should work with what we have. I fail to understand why we should attempt an amendment to what we have today, when we have asked for a thorough review of all that goes into the definition to be brought before us at an early opportunity. I intervened in the debate to ask the specific question: why we are proposing this now?