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Terrorism Bill

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Sewel set out most eloquently and fairly the case for the amendment today. He equally fairly said that there are no right or wrong answers in this debate. It is ultimately a question of judgment and that is a judgment that we all exercise, I hope, sooner than later this evening. I will add briefly to the comments I made in Committee. We are talking about a small number of cases here. The noble Lord, Lord Carlile, who is not in his place, said that perhaps in one or two cases the detention up to 90 days would be beneficial. If we grant detention beyond 28 days, we will not be giving the police or the intelligence services a greater chance of preventing another act of terrorism, because by definition this will only come into play once an arrest has been made and a potential act of terrorism has already been interdicted. So what is at stake? In one or two cases, do we want the police and the prosecutors to have a slightly better case of ensuring a prosecution? That is what the battleground is about. My concern is that for the sake of increasing the chance of one or two prosecutions, we are sacrificing some very fundamental human rights. That is what is at stake and that is the judgment you will make. My judgment is that I am not prepared to take that risk at this stage because the battle against fundamental Islamic terrorism is a battle that will last for decades and perhaps even centuries. It is a battle for hearts and minds as much as for one or two prosecutions. So although I respect all the noble lords who have spoken so eloquently in favour of the amendment, at this stage I will find difficulty in supporting it.