The hon. Member for Barking (Miss Richardson) was a distinguished member of the Russell panel which discussed human rights. I should like to come back to that issue later. At this early stage in my speech I should like to weigh up what she said about the burden of this Act on large numbers of people.

I believe that the hon. Lady should recalibrate a little on what she said about human rights, because the human right that is endangered by terrorism is the human right to live and to enjoy one's normal pursuit of happiness. It is the basic of all human rights which is threatened by terrorist activity. It is designed not merely to destroy the individual but to subvert and destroy the State from which all individual rights flow. That is something which the hon. Lady should bear in mind when discussing these impositions which, compared with what is imposed by the German and Irish Governments on their citizens, are considerably more liberal.

Since I am not a Northern Ireland Member, and since I have not seen the full horrors that hon. Members there have to suffer, I hope that within the terms of the Shackleton report I may be allowed to look at slightly wider issues than perhaps that of Northern Ireland itself. In his report, Lord Shackleton said that he feared that terrorism would not go away. I hope that it may, just as I hope that we shall not need this Act next year, but I very much doubt it.

There are even more alarming indications. World-wide terrorism is not diminishing. In a period when the world is materialist in outlook, and in a period which has been called"the revolution of rising expectations ", there has been enough terrorism. I shudder to think what will be the degree of violence when one looks ahead and sees a continuing deterioration in the world's expectations.

Another general matter which must be borne in mind is that, unfortunately, terrorism in the years to come may become more and more of a military weapon between States. This is a real problem which the House will have to face. After all, the Trojan horse exercise is as old as can be, but when combined with a nuclear threat it could be terrifying. Therefore, there is real reason for the Ministry of Defence and the Home Department always to keep under review this question of terrorism as a pursuit of war by other means. That is something that we shall have to look at seriously.

In discussing the renewal of this Act, another matter of general consideration is that the essential need is to ensure that the rule of law is pursued and that there is a feeling throughout the land that the rule of law should be pursued and supported. The hon. Lady said that this Act was unnecessary and that under common and statute law there are other means of dealing with these matters. That is true only if the law is enforced, but one of the problems in recent years is that the law in regard to these matters has not been enforced.

Endlessly the Foreign Secretary, on television, the evening radio and at the United Nations, has treated terrorist organisations as though they were sovereign Powers in exile. How can one expect people to grow up to think that terrorism is a bad thing when one finds the Foreign Secretary hob-nobbing with terrorists, not for reasons of State—which is acceptable—but because he believes that they are moderate, intelligent, democratic human beings? As a result, a sense of values is quickly lost, and that bears down on people until finally they feel they have to make decisions on whether terrorists are good or bad. In my view, there is only one good terrorist, and he is a dead one. The sooner that is appreciated by the country, the more solidly based we shall be.

The issues before the House in respect of the Act and the Shackleton report—I add my congratulations to Lord Shackleton—turn largely on the Northern Ireland problem today. Here again, this Act makes some contribution. But far more important than the Act—I am sure that Northern Ireland Members would agree—is the question of how this Act and, above all, the common law itself are enforced. Essentially I believe that that should be done and be best done by a police force rather than by the Armed Forces. This is a matter which the House must look at again and again.

Those of us who on occasions have taken part in Northern Ireland debates always ask that there should be more efforts to recruit more policemen from the minority community. Speaking as a Roman Catholic, I hope that that recruitment continues. I think that my coreligionists in Northern Ireland must face the fact that if we are to assume proper control and if constitutional means fail, or cannot be found, it would be a matter of enforcing the law on the ground. It is not the army which will enforce the law; it is the police. If the Roman Catholic of Northern Ireland will not come forward, recruits must be found elsewhere.