No one wants this terror bill
Today sees the return to the House of Lords of the contentious issue of extending to 42 days the time someone can be held by the police without being charged. I would have wanted to take part in the debate, though unavoidably I will be absent overseas. My view is that this pernicious provision should be removed from this bill now.
I regard it as not only unnecessary but also counterproductive; and we should fight to protect the liberties the terrorists would take from us, not destroy them ourselves. This proposal is wrong in principle and dangerous in practice.
During my time as attorney general I studied the issue of how long suspects can be held before being charged, and was closely involved with a number of the terrorist plots with which the bill is designed to deal.… Seguir leyendo »