Clause 23 - Activities in Scotland in relation to crime
Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill
5:45 pm
Mr David Cairns (PPS (Malcolm Wicks, Minister of State), Department for Work and Pensions; Greenock and Inverclyde, Labour)
That passage of the hon. Gentleman's speech is extraordinary. He is talking about criminals seeing the provisions as a loophole. Presumably they would also have to envisage the loophole being operable in a national emergency, because the clause applies only in a national emergency, so to take advantage of it, the clever criminals will have to work out the loophole and that there will be a national emergency at the time that they are going to commit their crime. Is not that a bit ridiculous?