Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 7:30 pm on 10 October 2002.

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Photo of Lord Lester of Herne Hill Lord Lester of Herne Hill Liberal Democrat 7:30, 10 October 2002

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for giving way. Is that really correct? There are still offences in this country—sedition-related offences—which may seem archaic, and offences in relation to public order, which, if one looked at the nature of the offence, would match a political offence committed in another country. The fact that the conduct relied upon in Iraq would not in fact have led to a conviction is not the way that the Bill is formulated. Therefore, one cannot simply say that there is no double criminality involved and that therefore there is protection in that way because that is not how the clause has been formulated.