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Terrorism Bill

I make a very small point in support of my noble friend’s amendment, but it is an important one. Increasingly, the relationship of the police to the Internet relates to certain areas of crime, and we are all very much aware that some of the crimes to which it relates are ones about which the public feel very strongly. I refer to stalking and paedophilia, for example, and to other areas with regard to which only recently, in the past few years, the police have inevitably had to include the Internet as a crucial source of information about people who may be prosecuting particularly disagreeable and horrible crimes. They have very much less relationship to the Internet in what one might call its beneficial aspects, which relate to education and the extension of information about other countries—sometimes of the most innocent kind, such as information about family histories. Will the Minister bear in mind in considering my noble friend’s arguments and those of the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland, the culture of the constable who may deal with these issues? That is all the more necessary because, if he is someone with a good deal of knowledge of the Internet, that is almost certainly the area in which he would have been working before he began to deal with issues that might impinge on terrorism. Quite often, the background that someone’s culture gives them can be a substantial influence on how they regard a case that falls on the margins. Therefore, without wishing to delay the Committee further, I ask the Minister when she considers this matter to look closely at whether it would not be more appropriate to have someone of a more detached status in that position, which would be met by my noble friend’s suggestion that these decisions should be in the hands of a judge rather than a constable.