I am pleased to hear that, but I did not quite understand that to be the position during the hon. Lady's speech.

The hon. Lady said that there are thousands of people who are acquitted every year, but surely there must be very few who have been imprisoned for three months with a murder charge hanging over their heads, and that, I submit, is something quite special and the reason why the Home Secretary should make an ex gratia payment to this man.

The hon. Lady said that Mr. Ayres could take legal action, but she knows that in a case like this that could be very expensive, far too expensive for a man who suffered as this man did, and who lost his job because of his ordeal. I suggest that this is an exceptional case. Being in prison for three months is in itself a serious matter. I know that the courts do not sit very frequently, and we are trying to remedy this state of affairs, but it must be a terrible ordeal to be in prison for three months with a murder charge hanging over one's head. As my hon. Friend said, this was not a case of Mr. Ayres being found not guilty, but of him being acquitted for lack of evidence. If the right hon. Gentleman has the power, which he evidently has, to decide when an ex gratia payment should be made, I suggest that in this exceptional case he should use that power to compensate this man for his ordeal.