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Counterterrorism

My Lords, I thank the Minister for updating us on this strategy. We heard version one of the strategy in 2003, which necessarily concentrated on the role of the security services. In 2006, it was expanded into the "Prevent" strand by recognising the nature of the home-grown threat. Today, we seem to have a more rounded version, although it is hard to detect any new direction in thinking. On "Pursue", there has certainly been lots of new enabling legislation and some successful prosecutions. I join in the tributes paid to those who brought them and all the work that went before them. The Government, as the Minister said, have increased the spending, which remains on track from when the previous strategy was published. I agree with the Government’s statement that the time has come to recognise the fact that this fight cannot all be conducted behind closed doors and that there needs to be a stronger emphasis on what happens in the open-door scenario. The "Prevent" strand is admirable, but it was rather spoilt this morning on the radio. I join the Conservative Front Bench in expressing sadness that the policy was launched, as always, on the "Today" programme and in the media, rather than in Parliament. The launch was also spoilt by the muddle that the Home Secretary got herself into when she talked about which groups would benefit from funding, which groups would be friendly, and the giving of money to them by the Government to counter terrorism. Actually, we have laws to prevent incitement, a fact which she seemed to overlook. The more that she wished simply to fund those who would counter terrorism in our communities, the deeper was the hole she was digging. I am sure that the House will want to hear from my noble friend Lady Falkner of Margravine, with all her experience, on the complexity of the issues that are being dealt with. For example, I remind the House that only yesterday Ms Blears decide to break links with the Muslim Council of Britain. As regards the "Protect" strand, of course we should protect our critical national infrastructure. It would be useful to learn more details on just where the fragile points of that are. The Minister may like to brief on that in private those of us in opposition responsible for speaking on this subject. When one thinks of radiological or biological weapons—a dirty bomb— the work on non-proliferation and on verification of nuclear material is urgent. I welcome the Prime Minister’s speech last week on nuclear issues when he talked about the importance of a "proliferation-proof" nuclear fuel cycle. No doubt, we will have an opportunity to hear more about that on Thursday, when my noble friend Lady Williams of Crosby introduces an important debate in this House. On the "Prepare" strand, I was slightly reminded of the 1980s Home Office approach to a nuclear attack—so brilliantly parodied by Raymond Briggs in When the Wind Blows—which suggested hiding under the kitchen table. On training the 60,000, I agree that it is an admirable idea to train responsible staff, whether in shopping malls, sports venues or restaurants, to look after their venues. However, I have been told by someone who has been trained that their training involved a three-hour "multimedia show" with a coffee break. Perhaps the Minister could say how it is intended to build on that. The public need much greater involvement in a plan B to prepare for an attack. It was noticeable after the 7 July bombings here in London that the lack of mobile phone coverage threw many people into a real panic. The need for the public to have a plan B in that situation was very evident. We have not even had a drill here in Parliament. The last time there was an incident, Members were locked both in and out. That was inevitable but no one knew what was going on, and I hope that the Minister will be able to give that some thought. The Statement talks about local authorities. Of course, for decades local authorities have been required to have a plan for emergencies that is regularly tried and tested. The Statement suggests that that is something new but, in fact, in most cases local authorities have been well ahead of the game. I am surprised that the Statement does not mention education. I think that work in schools and colleges is critical, and we on these Benches would have put far more emphasis on that. In terms of the international dimension, the Minister rightly mentioned issues in Pakistan. However, the Government continue to cut back on funding for institutions such as the British Council, and the BBC World Service, while concentrating on some parts of the world, continues to feel under threat every year. Those are two examples of very useful instruments for furthering the sort of approach that I think the Minister is talking about. Finally, we support the Government’s efforts on counterterrorism provided that there is no confusion between terrorists and innocent UK citizens who protest. The Government need to tighten up on the term "extremist". If they keep the terminology and the application of terror laws tight, they will have our support; if they misuse them, they will not. We do not want an excuse for invading privacy or for keeping databases; we want focused work, which we will support.