---

Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill

The right hon. and learned Gentleman will be supported in his argument that the paragraph should be narrower, rather than deleted, by what happened in the Joint Committee on Human Rights this afternoon. I asked Sir Ken Macdonald, the Director of Public Prosecutions, whether he thought that the provision that the right hon. and learned Gentleman seeks to delete in the public interest covered more than, as the organisation Justice has put it, undercover agents—police and other agents—and their ability to go about their work. He did not think that it covered more than that; at least, he did not offer any other factor. In fairness to him, I should say that he did not argue that the provision was too broad. However, I put it to the Committee that it is too broad if it can be narrowed and if, according to the DPP, nothing else needs to be captured.