Clause 1 - Offences to which the Act applies
Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill
11:45 am
Lembit Öpik (Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Affairs; Montgomeryshire, Liberal Democrat)
The hon. Gentleman asked the Minister to give an assurance that the legislation would not be applied in that way. Does he agree that even if the Minister were to give us a verbal assurance on that in this debate, it would count for nothing in a court, because it would be a matter of course that anybody mixed up in the kind of abhorrent crime that the hon. Gentleman describes would be able to invoke this phrase in the legislation in his or her defence?