---

Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

We think that the balance that we have achieved between the two components of the offence is right, and we are happy with it. I am also happy with the assessment of the Library that our test would be more generous to defendants. The right test is an objective one. I do not think that it is credible that the Liberal Democrats and the Government should rest their opposition to our proposal on the new argument that somehow it would provide less protection than is currently the case under the law. The Library is clear that that is not the case and we have consistently been clear that it is not. The Secretary of State advanced an entirely different argument earlier, when he said that our provision would somehow be struck down by the human rights legislation. The suggestion was that it would provide protection that was somehow outwith the law, but that argument will not wash. He has been caught out. He undertook a grandstanding exercise at the Labour party conference in search of headlines. It served him well, but he has not subsequently been able to deliver, and we will continue to point that out.