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Counter-Terrorism Bill

I am happy to be selective in the quotes from Hugh Orde that I use for the purposes of my argument. Safeguards are built into the Bill. Hon. Members have criticised the Home Secretary's proposal as having been watered down or made unworkable; I am not sure which way they are seeking to cut that argument. It is a precautionary proposal for temporary powers. It is dependent on the Director of Public Prosecutions, himself a sceptic, coming forward, together with the relevant chief constable, with a certificate to say that there is a need for those powers in the first place. We are now to get a vote after seven days. What meaningful debate could we have after seven days? During my time here, we debated the Prevention of Terrorism Acts in this House for a number of years. When we were deciding whether to extend the exceptional powers in the PTA, we did not discuss individual republican or loyalist terrorist atrocities—we discussed the state of the security situation and whether the state required those powers in order to keep people safe. After the Glasgow and Haymarket bombings, we had a perfectly good debate in this House on a statement by the Home Secretary. We had people arrested; we did not fall foul of the sub judice rules; and we were intelligent enough to have a debate without compromising the subsequent criminal prosecutions. That is exactly the debate that we would have in this regard. Let me end with two points. First, it is true that the current proposal could have an impact on community relations, but I have been around my multicultural community for long enough to know that the greatest and most detrimental impact on community relations occurs if a bomber gets through—that is when the damage is done. Secondly, if the police and the expert witnesses that we have heard before the Home Affairs Committee are right, a bomber may get through at some point in the future. I do not want hon. Members' fingerprints on a vote that might mean that at some point in the future we release out on to the streets someone who will go on to do us and our communities harm.