Former MP for Hexham
I warmly welcome the statement that the Government are to appeal in the Wright case. Many in the House believe that the Government are right so to do and that there is no alternative but to take that course. Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that if the operations of the secret service must remain secret, the means by which it is controlled must remain the responsibility of the...
Most right hon. and hon. Gentlemen will welcome what my right hon. and learned Friend has just said. Does he agree that the operations of the secret service must remain secret and that they involve a lifelong duty of trust?
Would my hon. Friend agree that judges often disagree, and in many cases a decision is taken by the House of Lords on a fair majority of one?
Does my hon. Friend agree that, whether it was right or wrong on the merits of the case, it would have been much better if a British citizen had had the right of immediate recourse to a British court so that we, too, had had the benefit of the views of a British court? Perhaps the case would have been disposed of there.
I join in the congratulations to my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Fylde (Sir E. Gardner) on using his good fortune in the ballot to propose the Bill. I especially congratulate him on the way in which he explained its provisions and its purpose with his customary skill and clarity. In the light of recent events to which the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) referred, there...
I am sure that none of us would argue for simplicity in matters of law. Of course, difficulties arise. The fact that we face today is that we are already bound by the convention. Under international law, we are bound by it. Our lawyers largely drafted it, we were the first to ratify it and we have consistently recognised the decisions of the court. The principal effect of the Bill, as my...
In a moment. When a Bill very similar to this was debated in another place, the Lord Chancellor said: I shall vote for it on Second Reading—except that I do not think that a vote will be taken— They had no doubt in another place that a Bill of this kind should be given a Second Reading and a vote was taken. The Lord Chancellor added: and I shall give it as fair a wind as I can."...
The Bill should receive a Second Reading and I hope that the House will grant that.
