---

Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill

My Lords, I apologise to the noble Lord if he feels that I was suggesting for one moment that he would bow to political pressure, but I think that a degree of political pressure is applied to political parties, particularly in another place, and understandably so. I have read the report carefully and I see that it raises a number of concerns that are not met in the Bill as drafted. I hope that practitioners such as me will raise other concerns that will find favour with Ministers next week. It is crucial, for example, that defence counsel can see what is happening. It is also crucial that the judge knows the true identity of the defendant. Those matters have not been dealt with, despite all the time that has been given to preparing these reports, and I hope that we can put that right before it is too late.