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Civil Aviation Bill

I, too, support the amendment. I support entirely the remarks of the noble Baroness, Lady D’Souza, and of the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson. I also declare an interest as a member of the newly-founded All-Party Group on Extraordinary Rendition. We have a unique opportunity; it is strange that it has arisen at the same time as the Civil Aviation Bill, but it just happens to be timely. Extraordinary rendition has been the major global topic this week. The Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, during our presidency of the EU, has made an approach to the United States about extraordinary rendition. His opposite number, the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, has changed her view on it every time she lands anywhere in Europe, because of the difficulties over the American position. As the noble Baroness, Lady D’Souza, said, today saw the historic judgment from the Law Lords on the unacceptability of evidence that has been accumulated through these strange methods. Given that we are considering the Civil Aviation Bill as well, that is a wonderful congruence of events. I do not doubt that the Minister’s brief will say, ““No thanks””, but on this occasion the Government may find that they could gain a great deal of international kudos by accepting the amendment. It is a civil aviation matter. Some 180 charter flight movements and 210 private flight movements may be involved in extraordinary rendition. There are difficulties regarding the status of these aircraft. Charter aircraft might be regarded as civil flights, but if they are being used by a government department they become government flights. We are in a very sensitive area where the rules need to be codified in a way that is clear to all the people who have to implement them. The amendment does that. The Government should seize this opportunity with both hands so that they can make a clear statement to the world that we in the United Kingdom are not going to accept extraordinary rendition flights. We are taking instant action by bringing forward legislation, which we have the opportunity to do. Rejection of the amendment might suggest that the Government have some form of implicit support for extraordinary rendition, which we do not believe they have. That is another reason for looking very favourably on the amendment.