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Terrorism Bill

The amendment to Clause 23, relating to the period a suspected terrorist may be held before charge, is one of the most important clauses in the Bill. If the 28 days agreed to in another place is accepted, and the maximum of 90 days, with weekly robust judicial oversight, as originally proposed, is not permitted, it must be accepted, by the police, by the press, by politicians, and thereafter by the public, that some terrorists who are actively planning death and destruction may go free and innocent lives may well be lost. However, it must be conceded that there is also a risk, however small it might be, than an innocent person is held for up to a maximum—an absolute maximum—of 90 days in custody before charge, trial or release. The balance between the risk of incarceration of an innocent person and thereby the denial of that person’s human rights must be weighed against the awful risk that failure to allow the investigating body the opportunity fully to investigate suspected terrorists or information about planned terrorist acts could result in the deaths and maiming of those who should also have the human right not to be killed or disabled for life. I respectfully draw the Committee’s attention to the man and the young woman who lost lower limbs in the terrorist acts of 7 July in London and will spend the rest of their lives in wheelchairs, as will some of those who survived the bombing of the train in Madrid some two years ago. Is this what we are prepared to gamble with for our children and relatives? It may be thought impertinent or intemperate for a relatively new Member of your Lordships’ House to express such forthright views but, on behalf of the law abiding and the man on the Clapham omnibus, I have to say, ““Wake up England. We are under threat, but we have a choice: properly and thoroughly to investigate the suspected terrorist or sit back in our nice warm houses or Chamber with our fingers crossed, hoping that it will not happen to our own children, our neighbours’ children, or to anyone we know””. And if it should, do we then just say, ““So sorry about that. I thought 28 days would be sufficient for police to make inquiries, but we didn’t believe them. It must be their fault for taking so long to complete their investigations. It’s not my fault.””? But it may well be if we do not return to the 90 days originally proposed. To allow 14, or even 28 days, for a major and complex inquiry is woefully inadequate. Let me give a couple of examples. I must tread carefully, as some cases are still sub judice. I am, however, no longer constrained on the first example, known as the ricin plot. This inquiry began in 2002 in London; it was a wide-ranging inquiry throughout the country into a network of Algerian terrorists. The investigation, which ran over several months, in not only the UK but in no fewer than 26—yes, 26—foreign jurisdictions, in addition to gathering evidence about their terrorist activities, uncovered other criminal activity involving their use of forged documents, credit card fraud and the like. Because of our pre-charge time limits, police were obliged to charge some of the men only with the lesser offences relating to forged documents and credit card fraud. If police had been given more time before charging or release became obligatory, it is probable that the suspect who fled the country, having been given bail on the lesser criminal charges, and who eventually proved to have been a prime conspirator, would have stood trial in this country for the major terrorist offences, and the outcome of the trial process might have been very different. Many of the 26 foreign jurisdictions involved—especially those with an inquisitorial system—work to extended time scales and do not understand the urgent need to respond to our inquiries within the time constraints for investigation in this country. Is it not ironic that a former pop star called Gary Glitter can be held in custody for up to four months in Thailand, having been accused of the offence of unlawful sexual intercourse, where all the forensic evidence, the accused and, as I understand it, the complainants, are in one jurisdiction? That perhaps indicates sharply the reason for the lack of urgency in some countries when our police and security services are trying to wrap up a complicated terrorist case with global dimensions in just a matter of days.