Article For Folkestone Herald and Kentish Express

17 March 2005

Many people would have been confused at the parliamentary goings on last week over the Government’s Terrorism Bill. Battles here at the House of Commons and the House of Lords and late night sittings must seem very curious to those who think it should be possible for politicians to agree on what should be done in the face of the undoubted threat which Britain faces from terrorists.

But important principles were stake, not least a fundamental difference in views between Tony Blair and me, as to how best this threat can be countered.

I believe that terrorists should be prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned. The proper place for a terrorist is a prison cell not loafing around in his living room. Nor am I convinced that an electronic bracelet would seriously inconvenience an experienced Al-Qaeda operator. These tags are routinely broken by conventional criminals every day of the week.

So we put forward a new way in which terrorists could be prosecuted, on the basis of a recommendation made by a committee set up by the Government last year. This would have given the Government complete protection against the disclosure of any sensitive intelligence.

Mr Blair rejected this proposal out of hand. So we concentrated our efforts on inserting a ‘Sunset Clause’ into the legislation. This would ensure that the important provision in the Terrorism Bill would not be on the statute book permanently but would be reviewed and if necessary amended or replaced within the next year.

In this I am pleased to say we had the support of Charles Kennedy and the Liberal Democrats and in the end the Government backed down and accepted a ‘Sunset Clause’ in everything but name.

The concluding stages of the debate coincided with the first day of the Conservative Party’s Spring Forum at Brighton. Because I was determined not to miss my Romney Marsh surgeries, I had to helicopter from Folkestone to Brighton so that I could be there on time for my speech on Saturday afternoon. As you will have seen Sandra and the children joined me on the platform. That, too, seems to have aroused some controversy. I think it only goes to show what a lucky man I am!