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Coroners and Justice Bill

My Lords, I shall try to answer the noble Lord, Lord Lester. I thank him and also the noble Lord, Lord Henley, for his helpful remarks earlier and for his support for what we are doing. It is much better if we can agree as a House on something like this. I should have mentioned the noble Baroness, Lady O’Cathain, who has just been in her place, because she, too, played an important role when these matters were discussed at an earlier stage. The noble Lord, Lord Carlile, mentioned—and I should mention also for the sake of completeness—my fellow Minister in the House of Commons, my honourable friend Claire Ward, and the Secretary of State, who both played leading roles in arriving at this final achievement. Short-term visitors would not come within these categories, but if it is believed that they are suspects they could be deported on grounds of being not conducive to the public good. As to people undergoing medical treatment, if they are here for a long period they could, too—not necessarily but, as a matter of common sense—be deported if believed to be suspects. Asylum seekers waiting for decisions are covered, as are short-term students. That is all I need to say at this stage.