Part of Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 5:15 pm on 16 October 2007.
Jan Berry: We saw the proposals this morning and have not taken a view about extending the measure. I do not think that we have a view one way or the other on any extension. All I would say is that, if it is included in the criminal law, we would ask that the interpretation be very clear, because it is the police officer on the street who will be expected to be able to interpret that and, if they do that in the wrong way it could inflame situations and people could very quickly get into polarised positions, making a mockery of what we were seeking to achieve in the first instance.