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Counter-Terrorism Bill

I shall take no more than two minutes of your Lordships’ time. We are already approaching 11 hours of debate in your Lordships' House, if one includes the Second Reading and today’s proceedings. I am most impressed with the commitment of all sides of the Committee in trying to find a solution. I am also very grateful to the three co-signatories to my amendment, who spoke so well at the beginning of the debate. I shall pick out only four points and shall give them one line each, as it were. I have heard no evidence of a current need to extend. That is probably given on both sides. I have listened very closely to what successive DPPs said. They do not need it now; neither do they see a need in the future. Please note that they are the people who make the decision on the ground while the clock is running. I have heard no challenge to the suggestion—more than a suggestion—that I and many others have put forward that it is possible to use existing law when running through the 28-day process to charge what, with the greatest respect to him, the Minister called holding charges. They are not holding charges. No one can say that charges of possession of explosive materials or preparatory acts of terrorism are holding charges. They are serious in their own right. If the investigation is continued beyond that point, and the prime offence is charged later, then so be it. We have heard a lot about the threshold test that allows that sort of thing to go forward. I was disappointed when the Minister, almost as a—