Counter-Terrorism Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 3:30 pm on 14 October 2008.

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Photo of Lord West of Spithead Lord West of Spithead Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Security and Counter-terrorism), Home Office, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office) (Security and Counter-terrorism) 3:30, 14 October 2008

My Lords, the noble Lord raises an interesting point. I can assure him that I will be looking very closely at any other ways of ensuring that, if we get to a position of people at 28 days, we are able to gather the evidence necessary to make a charge or to say they have to be released. There may or may not be other ways of doing this but, at the moment, we believe there will be a case that goes beyond 28 days and that the police and DPP will ask us to do it. This effectively emergency measure has been provided and will be put in place when that occurs. If we find before then some other way of doing this, I will jump at it. This is one of things I was trying to look at over the past eight months but, whether it was threshold tests, CCA or putting money in to do these things quicker, there was not a way I could see of doing it. That is why we have arrived at where we have got to.