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Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) Order 2007

My Lords, I thank noble Lords for the interesting points that they raised. In response to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd, yes, this could have been done under Section 3 and did not need to happen under Section 6. The noble and learned Lord also asked whether there was any activity in this country by the groups. We think that a couple of people might be involved with the JMB, but there is nothing regarding the other group. Therefore, we are looking at this matter due to the organisations’ threats to our forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan and the impact on other nations. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, for the points he raised. Again, the answer is that this is a matter of procedural convenience which could be done in another way. It might be good to raise this with the Chief Whips to see how the matter might be taken forward. Again, I confirm that we do not see much activity by those organisations in this country; we are taking this action because of the threat that they cause to our forces abroad and the impact worldwide. We want to show that we are not willing to give any support for this sort of terrorism and to demonstrate that to the countries we are dealing with. I hope that I have addressed the two procedural points to which the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland, referred, and I am pleased that noble Lords recognise that these groups need to be proscribed. In future, we could look at bringing forward such orders in a different way, and I will ensure that we do that, because it might be a little clearer and more straightforward. There is no doubt that proscription is a tough power. The penalties are severe, and we can exercise this power only when there is clear evidence that an organisation is concerned with terrorism. That is part of the reason for the delay before we proscribe a group. It takes time, even though we have seen intelligence evidence of attacks. However, there is a relevant point here, and we must look at whether this process can be speeded up, because it is important to do that. As I have said, I am satisfied that these two organisations are concerned in terrorism. On Question, Motion agreed to.