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Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism

The hon. Gentleman’s intervention gave him a good opportunity to set out his very clear view. The conclusion of the Joint Committee’s report deals with the House’s right properly to debate whether there should be derogation:"““We… conclude at this stage that we cannot endorse a renewal without a derogation and believe that Parliament should therefore be given an opportunity to debate and decide that question.””" We have not been given that opportunity, which is another reason—in addition to those given by my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Hallam and, although without the vote to go along with them, by the hon. Member for Newark (Patrick Mercer)—why I, and others, will vote against the renewal. We recognise, as does the Joint Committee, the need to tackle terrorism, but we believe that without adequate parliamentary scrutiny we risk making matters worse and providing for bad law that will be counter-productive in the long run.