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Counter-Terrorism Bill

I am grateful to all Members who have taken part in this short debate. I am aware that the noble Baroness, Lady Manningham-Buller, although she does not speak for the service, speaks with a great deal of knowledge. Those of us who have tended to make rather glib statements will have to be more careful in future, as we have to be when the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Jones, is here. We can no longer make these sweeping statements because they are watching us. This is a serious issue, and I very much appreciate my noble friend’s forthright condemnation of torture. That is absolutely fundamental. I suppose that many of us were shocked when our American friends started justifying waterboarding as a legitimate practice rather than a form of torture. I think that everyone in the Committee would say that waterboarding is a form of torture. Our concerns were heightened because we felt that if our American friends are prepared to justify a form of torture, we must be doubly careful that we remain absolutely clear. I appreciate the point about the volume of information and excessive bureaucracy. Nevertheless, I am grateful for my noble friend’s forthright statement of condemnation, and I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 20 [Disclosure and the intelligence services: supplementary provisions]: