---

Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill

I accept that, Mr. Deputy Speaker, but my point was that a different aspect of the independent counsel proposal was raised twice—first in connection with this amendment and specifically because it offered an alternative way of dealing with this problem, and then later by itself. I still think that it is relevant to say that I was disappointed by what happened in the other place, where the Conservative party was slightly feeble. Nevertheless, and even though we still disagree on the fundamental point about equality of treatment, I hope that the Minister will be able to answer the more specific question. Is it intended that it should be possible for sensitive information about identity to be released to other defendants in multiple defendant cases in the indirect way that I have described?. The obvious intention of Lords amendment No. 1 is to stop that happening directly.