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Counter-Terrorism Bill

That is the right question. However, I put back to the noble Lord the sort of harm that can be done by the failure to interrupt, to analyse and to break up an international conspiracy for the importation of hard drugs, which in the long run can, although not as dramatically, cause exactly the same number of casualties. For the reasons given by my noble friend Lord Dear and most powerfully by the noble Lord, Lord Thomas, I oppose the increase to 42 days. I wish to make only two points today. The first relates to the basis of the Government’s argument for extending the period of detention beyond 28 days, which is that 42 days might not be enough in exceptional circumstances. The trouble with that way of putting the argument is that it has probably given the impression that, in all ordinary circumstances, 28 days is acceptable. I merely remind the noble Lord, Lord West, of assurances that have been given by all his predecessors, including the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Scotland, who was in her place earlier, that the norm remains 14 days, not 28 days. I very much hope that the noble Lord, when he comes to reply, will repeat loud and clear that that is the position. It is important because judges, believe it or not, pay attention to what Parliament says. They even pay attention to what Ministers say. It is important that judges, who have the task of deciding whether to extend the time beyond 14 days, should realise that the view of this House is that 14 days, not 28 days, is the norm. I look forward to a further assurance on that point. My second point is that Ministers often use the increased threat as a justification for extending pre-charge detention. The noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, has already made that point. However, I see no connection between an increased threat and the length of time a suspect is kept and questioned in police custody. An increased threat, assuming it to be so, is surely justification for increased vigilance on the part of the Security Service, the police and all the others. It might even be justification for increased sentences as a deterrent, but surely an increased threat, assuming that it exists, does not touch on the question that we are discussing: whether the length of pre-charge detention should be extended. Surely it cannot be the government case that extending the length of pre-charge detention will act as a deterrent. Indeed, exactly the opposite must surely be the case; so far from being a deterrent, it is a step that is positively inflammatory—the word used by my noble friend Lord Dear.