Government suffers ‘sunset clause’ defeat
The Government has suffered another defeat in its effort to get its Prevention of Terrorism Bill passed after peers voted to insert a “sunset clause” backed by Conservatives.
Lords tonight voted 297 to 110 to insert a clause that will see the controversial Bill automatically expire on November 30th.
Tonight’s defeat follows a string of others for the Government at the House of Lords, with peers also defeating ministers on the right of suspects to have state benefits.
Lords also insisted that any control measures used against terror suspects must be listed on the Bill.
Yesterday, peers voted 249 to 119 to amend the bill so that the decision to issue all terror control orders lies with the courts rather than ministers.
The majority of 130 caused ministers to immediately back down on other amendments that it previously planned to resist.
The Government accepted that control orders be granted only if a judge were convinced on a balance of probabilities that a suspect was involved in terrorist activities, rather than simply “reasonable grounds” for suspicion.
A third amendment was also accepted that requires a statement by the Director of Public Prosecutions to the court stating that there was “no reasonable prospect of successful prosecution” before an order was made.
The control orders would see terrorism suspects for whom there is not enough evidence to bring to trial tagged or even placed under house arrest in the most serious cases.
The bill will now return to the House of Commons after scraping through by just 14 votes last week and the Government hopes to get it through parliament by March 14, when the current anti-terror legislation expires.
