Clause 6 — Declaration permitting closed material applications in proceedings

Part of Justice and Security Bill [Lords] (Programme) (No. 2) – in the House of Commons at 4:45 pm on 4 March 2013.

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Photo of Kenneth Clarke Kenneth Clarke Minister without Portfolio 4:45, 4 March 2013

I respect the hon. Lady’s sincerity, and she represents those who are against the whole policy. I have met such people outside—to use a flippant phrase, some of my best friends are human rights lawyers, and I have met people who say that the whole idea of CMPs is so bad that it is a lesser evil to keep paying money to the ever-mounting number of people coming forward. That is a judgment for the House to make, but the three political parties do not contain many members who agree with that, and I do not think the public agree with it. I would prefer to see a judge test the evidence and come to a conclusion.