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Counter-Terrorism Bill

My Lords, I thank noble Lords who spoke in this interesting debate. This amendment is the best possible solution before the Coroners Bill arrives. Apparently that Bill will be in the next Queen’s Speech and could receive Royal Assent next year; or it could be one of the 10 or 12 Bills that it is rumoured will now be dropped. I absolutely understand the points about the Chilcot review. When it is complete and is taken together with the Coroners Bill, a better solution might be found. In the mean time, however, there will still be outstanding inquests that cannot be held. Is it really acceptable that these inquests should drag on year after year while this House and another place search for the perfect solution? I hear what the noble Baroness, Lady Manningham-Buller, said, but, with all due respect, it dealt with a hypothetical situation. We are not there yet. In one of the two outstanding cases, the IPCC itself said that it could proceed to inquest. If a body like that did not see problems with it, it suggests that it thought that an inquest could reasonably be held. The noble Lord, Lord West, says this is a valiant attempt, which I think is damning with faint praise. I do not mind that at all. However, I cannot accept that our tradition of holding prompt inquests into the deaths of citizens at the hands of the state should be set aside. The Minister can always quote matters of national security. I fully accept how important those are, and I have given as much room as I can for the judgment of the judge to deal with them. Ultimately, however, it comes down to whether the Government think that the judge can take that amount of responsibility, which he can; and whether he is to be trusted, which the Government must say they do. If the system does not work for the inquests that are stacking up at the moment we will have lost time and they will not be valuable, as the noble Baroness, Lady Manningham-Buller, pointed out. On the other hand, the likelihood is that they will proceed. Some answers, even if redacted, will be found, and those inquests will have been held. I would therefore invite the House to agree with me. On Question, Whether the said Motion (No. C1) shall be agreed to? Their Lordships divided: Contents, 125; Not-Contents, 144. On Question, Motion C agreed to.