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Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism

It is almost as if my hon. Friend was looking over my shoulder at the next paragraph of my speech. Although POAC considered that the Government were wrong to refuse to de-proscribe the PMOI in 2006, it did agree that the original proscription was justified in 2001 and that the PMOI was responsible for many terrorist attacks over an extended period. It also stated that the Government were entitled to place little credibility on public statements made by the PMOI as its public statements contained—heaven forfend—““spin””, and the evidence submitted in the course of the hearing was ““contradictory and potentially misleading”” and demonstrated ““a shifting approach””. Our subsequent application for permission to appeal POAC's ruling to the Court of Appeal was refused. While disappointed with this decision, we have complied with the judgment and have moved quickly to lay the order that the House is debating today. It will give effect to POAC's order and remove the PMOI from the list of proscribed organisations. However, my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) can take both my tone and our desire to appeal POAC's decision to mean that we are not satisfied that the PMOI is no longer a terrorist organisation.