Results 1-20 of 27 for terrorism speaker:Mr Richard Allan

Adjournment (Easter) (24 Mar 2005)

Mr Richard Allan: ...out of the conflict. Armed people have gone in—there are suggestions that they are associated with the Colombian military—killed a number of leading activists and left the whole region in terror. That is another issue that the UK Government could raise with the Colombian authorities. Other Members have spoken of the importance of ensuring that people, especially young people,...

Identity Cards Bill: Clause 31 — Tampering with the Register etc. (10 Feb 2005)

Mr Richard Allan: ...it wherever they go—whether they have their ID card with them is immaterial. The fundamental question is the extent to which the benefits derived in terms of catching people involved with terrorism and crime—something with which we agree—are so great as to justify holding all that data, and presumably using it and checking it regularly. Are those benefits worth the...

Identity Cards Bill: New Clause 4 — Application of Freedom of Information Act (10 Feb 2005)

Mr Richard Allan: ...wrong. If there is any suggestion of blanket coverage, if the individual was told for example, that it was an agreement between the UK and the United States authorities covered by terribly secret terrorism provisions, when they were merely going on holiday to Disneyworld, that would not be satisfactory in terms of the citizen's ability to obtain redress. I question the point of having a...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 20 - Further uses connected with the (27 Jan 2005)

Mr Richard Allan: ...I want to clarify the intention here. Clause 20(2) says ''provision of . . . information not falling within paragraph 9 of schedule 1 is authorised by this section'' and then talks about the anti-terrorism, crime and security elements that we have just discussed. Is it the intention, therefore, that the audit data will never be disclosed under these 2001 Act provisions? Subsection (2)...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 20 - Further uses connected with the (27 Jan 2005)

Mr Richard Allan: ...more generally in the clause stand part debate. During our discussions on this amendment it would be helpful to be given a greater understanding of the precise scope of the provisions in the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. Does the Minister see the clause as being specifically about the disclosure of information from the identity register to people abroad for overseas...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 7 - Procedure for orders under s. 6 (20 Jan 2005)

Mr Richard Allan: ...requires certification; this legislation has to say that it is compliant with the convention rights. Primary legislation cannot be struck down. As the courts have recently found out with the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, they can say that they do not think legislation is compliant, but they have no ability to strike it down. We had a long debate about the sovereignty of...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 1 - The National Identity Register (18 Jan 2005)

Mr Richard Allan: ...an interesting line, as he did when speaking to the previous amendment. However, can I take it that his position is not an absolute one and that something that was a small help in the fight against terrorism, but a massive deprivation of civil liberties at huge financial expense would not be acceptable? Does he have a threshold? He would not support absolutely anything that helped in the...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 1 - The National Identity Register (18 Jan 2005)

Mr Richard Allan: ...suspects and holds that data so that it is available as and when the law enforcement agencies seek to use it. There may be a rationale for doing that; it may be the Government's position that crime and terrorism are, or are likely to become, so serious that keeping such data is strictly necessary, but our view is that it is not currently necessary. I keep reminding the Committee that...

Public Bill Committee: Identity Cards Bill: Clause 1 - The National Identity Register (18 Jan 2005)

Mr Richard Allan: ...environment, but the debate is about whether the price that we pay to achieve it is appropriate and whether the Bill is the best way to achieve the objective, which we all share, of defeating terrorism.

Civil Contingencies Bill (18 Nov 2004)

Mr Richard Allan: ...in this House yesterday. Lord Carlile is independent, but I would not say that he is non-political. He is still a political Member of the House of Lords. He reviews procedures used under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. That was precisely what we were looking for in the context of this legislation. We have set certain thresholds for Ministers to invoke the powers; as we...

Orders of the Day — Civil Contingencies Bill: Clause 2 — Duty to assess, plan and advise (17 Nov 2004)

Mr Richard Allan: ...everything in traffic regulations in intimate and minute detail, down to the width of double yellow lines, when we come to try to define in law how we can make alterations for the purposes of anti-terrorism, we seem similarly to be required to spell everything out in minute detail to give appropriate legal authority. None the less, the provisions are unremarkable in what they are seeking...

Orders of the Day — Civil Contingencies Bill: Clause 34 — Commencement (17 Nov 2004)

Mr Richard Allan: ...in lieu of there being no alternative, we would vote with the Conservatives to ensure that we kept the issue alive. We suggested as an alternative the kind of procedure that is followed under the Terrorism Act 2000, whereby my noble Friend Lord Carlile has a statutory responsibility to review some of the provisions used under that Act. That is very useful. It has kept issues alive and on...

Human Rights (Colombia) (23 Mar 2004)

Mr Richard Allan: ..., and the armed groups who are acting illegally, and whom we condemn unreservedly. It is also important not to make generalisations from the Colombian situation in relation to some kind of war on terror. The Colombian conflict started decades before any of the current rhetoric and debate on the war on terror—whatever that might mean; the situation in Colombia is unique and to...

The Scientific Response to Terrorism (18 Mar 2004)

Mr Richard Allan: ..., particularly the obvious unanimity of views of Committee members about the value of the report. They are perhaps more unified on that than they are on the war with Iraq and how to deal with terrorism. The report has brought them all together and made a useful contribution to the debate on how to respond to the threat of terrorism. The hon. Member for Newark (Patrick Mercer) and I have...

Public Bill Committee: Civil Contingencies Bill: Clause 26 - Parliamentary scrutiny (10 Feb 2004)

Mr Richard Allan: ...matter, which was sensibly and correctly raised by the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills. We could be dealing with legislation as significant as such pieces of primary legislation as the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, which had to be put in place on an emergency basis. To be fair, the Government have conceded the point about amendment of the regulations, which I understand...

Public Bill Committee: Civil Contingencies Bill: Clause 25 - Duration (10 Feb 2004)

Mr Richard Allan: ...solution than specifying that, after the initial period for which the emergency regulations have been in force, primary legislation must be sought. The example I cited before is the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, which was a parliamentary constitutional response to the events of 11 September, and passed through both Houses of Parliament quite rapidly. In seeking to remove...

Public Bill Committee: Civil Contingencies Bill: Clause 22 - Limitations of emergency regulations (10 Feb 2004)

Mr Richard Allan: ...are much more imaginable than some of those that have been described. It deals with compulsory medical treatment in the context of biological attacks on the United Kingdom, any of the other extreme terrorism circumstances that we have imagined, or other emergencies such as avian flu or foot and mouth diseases that somehow transfer to humans. There are quite a lot of circumstances covered...

Public Bill Committee: Civil Contingencies Bill: Clause 18 - Meaning of ''emergency'' (3 Feb 2004)

Mr Richard Allan: ...that we think is sensible. It is more restrictive than open. Is it the Government's intention to publish a set of regulations that say that floods of a certain magnitude and certain types of terrorism will fall within this, or will it be used specifically on a case-by-case basis? Will the Government say, ''We expect floods of a certain magnitude next year, therefore this year we are...

Public Bill Committee: Civil Contingencies Bill: Clause 18 - Meaning of ''emergency'' (3 Feb 2004)

Mr Richard Allan: ...What are the Government doing about it?'' and for a Minister to say, ''I can bring in some emergency regulations, then I can be seen to be doing something,'' even though the existing criminal and terrorism law would cover the situation. If the threat were not immediate—which is why I am trying to insert that definition—we could bring into play ordinary legislation in the...

Public Bill Committee: Civil Contingencies Bill: Clause 18 - Meaning of ''emergency'' (3 Feb 2004)

Mr Richard Allan: ...UK could become targets in a similar way. Again, the question was about the immediacy of the threat. In the end, we responded in the correct, normal and democratic fashion: what became the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 went through both Houses of Parliament, and we had normal democratic debates. We were not all entirely comfortable with the outcome, but the point is that we...