Kali Mountford: May I pay my own personal tribute to all the officers we have lost and give my condolences to their families? I am sure we miss them all. May I ask the Prime Minister why, in his view, fairness should be the hallmark of a good Government?
Kali Mountford: I have been a Member in this House for a little while now, and during that time I have discussed demographic change on many occasions. The hon. Member for Eastbourne (Mr. Waterson) has been in the Chamber for some of those debates, and we have had several exchanges about the need to look ahead at what we must do for people in the future. It is therefore a little remiss to have forgotten...
Kali Mountford: I shall do my best to sit down, if the hon. Gentleman will give me a moment to do so.
Kali Mountford: I understand exactly what the hon. Gentleman is saying, but I have read the Green Paper and I feel that the Government are making three interesting proposals. It is right for us to debate the new proposals and see what we can do to change the situation that he describes. The people in the cases in my postbag have been receiving NHS care, so that situation has not arisen because such care is...
Kali Mountford: Thank you, Mr. Speaker—thank you, dear friend. I particularly wanted to be here today. Having been here from the beginning—with some difficulty, I might add—I wanted to see this particular part of your career all the way through to the end. I wanted to be here because, right at the beginning of this part of your career, many people said that you were not the best Speaker for this House....
Kali Mountford: In congratulating my right hon. Friend on his statement, may I say that it is part of an evolving process over some years whereby the Government have concentrated their efforts on those who are completely isolated from the world of work, who have become used to dependence on benefits, and who have perhaps become comfortable in poverty, which is not a position that we should be satisfied for...
Kali Mountford: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what plans he has to make materials available to schools and colleges for 16 to 18-year-olds on registering for bone marrow donation; and when he expects these materials to be included in the national curriculum.
Kali Mountford: When we considered this matter in Committee, we were given some evidence by Sir Ian Blair of a growing threat. I am concerned, as I hope my hon. Friend is, that if we should decide at some point that we would need an extension of the time in which to examine evidence concerning somebody who is suspected of committing a terrorist attack on this country, that should not happen in a heated...
Kali Mountford: I am sure that my right hon. Friend will have been impressed by the incredible courage of Adrian Sudbury, who is using the last weeks of his life to campaign for more bone marrow donors to come forward. I have been impressed by the response so far of the Secretaries of State for Children, Schools and Families and for Health, but what more can my right hon. Friend do to help my friend Adrian...
Kali Mountford: Does my hon. Friend agree that the vast majority of people feel most aggrieved to be associated with the fact that they could be terrorists, and that people, particularly newspapers, associate, or prefix the word “terrorists” with “Muslim”? They would feel a lot happier if we discussed terrorism without that prefix.
Kali Mountford: Is this not a matter of risk? There is a risk that the person detained could be innocent, but there is also the risk that they are not innocent. If they are not detained, they could carry on with the plot that we are trying to avoid.
Kali Mountford: I, too, heard all of the DPP’s evidence, including that he would use such measures if they were available to him, but I have also heard evidence from ACPO, and my local police force. I was given examples of circumstances in which an investigation might go on longer. I admit that they were hypothetical because such circumstances did not arise in that particular investigation, but they...
Kali Mountford: There has to be reasonable suspicion, but suspicion is different from evidence. Having sufficient evidence—[ Interruption. ] The hon. Gentleman is arguing from a sedentary position and I cannot hear what he is saying. We should err on the side of caution when it comes to protecting the lives of our constituents. The difference between that and the hon. Gentleman’s argument about the thin...
Kali Mountford: We often talk about the first duties of Government. In this case, that is a suitable debate along with a debate on how we find the balance between defending freedoms and defending life and limb. In the defence of freedom, one can lose life and limb. When we defend life and limb, we worry about the defence of freedom. I think about how we might debate that today and about how we got involved...
Kali Mountford: Of course, if we do absolutely nothing that, too, could look like a kind of weakness. A weak Government who do nothing in the face of atrocity, and all kinds of things, can be used as propaganda tools. Absolutely anything could be construed or misconstrued in any way. Such a mind, which we cannot understand because we are not inside it, could twist anything into any form that it chose. It is...
Kali Mountford: I see that as the job of the agents we employ. My job as a legislator is to use the evidence given to me to decide how best to protect people. As far as counter-terrorism goes, that is not my job because I am not that specialist; I am a legislator and I am legislating as best I can with the evidence before me. Counter-intelligence is for those agents; I am not an agent in the field—I am not...
Kali Mountford: That is sound knowledge, and I will accept the hon. Gentleman’s flattery whenever I can. That, of course, is why the legislation is time limited. It will not run not ad infinitum; it includes lots of checks and balances. It is good that it will not go on for ever. We have introduced legislation, because we think it necessary at the moment, but it is not here for all time. It is here while...
Kali Mountford: Forgive me for hoping that they are not needed, in spite of hearing the evidence. This morning, the hon. and learned Gentleman made some arguments that I, too, was disappointed that we had not heard evidence about the kind of atrocities that people believed were being plotted against us. We know that there are plots against us, but I hope that none of those plots comes to fruition. I hope...
Kali Mountford: When we were considering 90 days, I and others proposed 60 days. The reason I did so, as I am sure you are aware, is that the West Yorkshire force and my own particular division in Huddersfield were the arresting officers after the London bombings. Having reviewed the evidence that they had collected, they advised me that they did not think that 90 days was necessary, but they were determined...
Kali Mountford: You said that you do not want to be legislating after an atrocity. If the House does not accept the need for 42-day pre-charge detention, what will be your main objection to legislating if there were to be an atrocity?