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Lord Strathclyde: My Lords, on behalf of this side of the House, I thank the noble Baroness for repeating the Statement. Of course, the correct response to such events is resolve: resolve on the part of this House and of Parliament; of our Government and Opposition united; and of the people of London and of Britain as a whole. The past few days have shown that common and unswerving resolve. I hope that the noble Baroness will take to the Prime Minister the sense of the whole House that his leadership in these days has been secure, purposeful and effective.

I ask the noble Baroness to reflect to Her Majesty the Queen the courage that we drew from her inspirational personal words to hospital workers. Those workers were a representative sample of the many, many thousands of emergency workers, security services and agencies, police, fire-fighters, paramedics, medical staff, transport staff, the British Red Cross and others who have been and still are doing their duty tirelessly and honourably. I know that the noble Baroness will convey our thanks to all those fine public servants for the courage and commitment that they have shown in the most trying and testing conditions.

Was it not also inspiring, against that background, to see at the weekend the gathering in Whitehall of remarkable and brave women, led by Her Majesty, who recalled the courage, sacrifice and service of millions of women in a truly great time of trial? If those who perpetrated the foul and cowardly crimes witnessed that peculiarly British event, would they not realise how great and unsinkable is the spirit of this city and this country and how futile is their pathetic and perverted cause? The past few days have brought out the abiding dignity, humanity and quiet courage that is the true British character.

I also thank the Home Secretary for his wise words on the subject of identity cards. I believe that it is wise to conduct constant appraisal of the background of these events, although for the moment, surely the House feels that the full attention of all those involved
 
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must be given to bringing the murderers to justice. As we carry out that continuing process of appraisal, we need to reflect on what will actually help in defeating terrorism and what will not.

When we have concluded that and not before—I welcomed the Prime Minister's words on this—we need to focus legislative time and the taxpayers' resources on those things that unite, not divide, and on those initiatives that really help towards a solution. It would have been tempting for some to seek to exploit these events to justify further erosion of our ancient liberties. It is to the credit of the Home Secretary that he did not. The only ones who win when democratic liberties are lost are the enemies of democracy themselves. We should take stock and proceed together.

I do not expect the Government to fail in their duty to protect the citizens of this country, but equally I do not expect the House to flinch in its duty of protecting our liberties and of scrutinising the Government's legislation.

Will the noble Baroness also express the thanks of the House to the world leaders at the G8 who stood shoulder to shoulder with Britain at this time? Food may divide us, but freedom unites us all. These events have reverberated around the world, but where they have been felt most keenly is in hundreds—thousands, indeed—of ordinary homes.

Our deepest sympathy goes to the families and friends of those who have died and those who have been maimed and scarred by the experience and memory of these events. We mourn with them. We share their grief. Nothing will ever console them, but nothing would fail them more than that we should lack resolve.

I will not ask the noble Baroness to give more details than those she has given. I know that she, as our Leader, will always ensure that the House is fully informed. Will she join me in one thing? There are those who are saying in the Arab world that Britain is seeing this as an attack by Islam against Britain. Will she repudiate that, and does she share my view that this was not an attack by Islam, but an attack on Islam—on the image of a great religion; on the innocent Muslim people who died, were bereaved or were injured; and on a city of London that is not only a great Christian city but a Jewish and Hindu city and a Muslim city, where so many Muslim Londoners make their home?

The world needs to understand the totality of the failure of these criminals to divide, to destroy or to sow despair. Rarely has this city or this country been more united. In the coming days, we look forward with hope and expectation to a growing chorus of voices from British Muslims calling for these criminals and their fellow travellers to be cast out and unequivocally condemned. Truly, they are the enemies of right-thinking and God-fearing people everywhere. Their murderous identities may still be unknown to us, but, with our combined resolve, justice will soon inexorably be upon them.
 
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4.17 pm

Lord Dholakia: My Lords, from this side of the House, I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement. First, I pay tribute to the resilience of the people of London, which has been widely reported by the international press. The most powerful weapon that we have against the terrorist is the strength of our diverse society, which exists in one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world. We also associate ourselves with the sentiments expressed by the Prime Minister and extend our sympathy to all those who have suffered.

We need to thank the police and MI5, who, according to the noble Lord, Lord Stevens, former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, have foiled at least eight terrorist attacks in Britain. Much of their work is secretive and often goes unreported. We do not support the call for an inquiry into intelligence failings. An internal inquiry is inevitable at the appropriate time, but we see no case at present either for a public or a judicial inquiry. It will deflect resources at a time when the priority is to catch the perpetrators of such vile crimes.

We must not allow terrorism to erode our civil liberties. We must not hand a victory to the terrorists by giving in to the temptation to legislate to remove freedoms. The Prime Minister helpfully made the same point in his initial statement from Gleneagles. Let me confirm that my party would accept the need for a new prevention of terrorism Act. A new offence of acts preparatory to terrorism is now due. We should also reopen the debate on lifting the ban on the use of telephone taps and intercepted e-mails in court.

I should like to put some questions to the Minister. The Commission for Racial Equality is now monitoring the tensions that may arise as a result of the bombings. What discussions have taken place with the Muslim community and what policing resources are directed to preventing attacks on Muslims and others of Asian appearance?

We support the Government's desire to push for a decision in the length of time that communication service providers should hold telephone and Internet data. The current system is voluntary, confused and ineffective.

Will the Government publish their views on the report of the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties of May this year? There is always a temptation after such terrible events for the Government to rush through new legislation curtailing freedoms. That would be a mistake. We shall support a proportionate measure, arrived at after a slow and careful process of assessing the evidence. The priority must be to catch the perpetrators. If that means more resources for the police and the intelligence services, we should provide them.

There should be a relentless campaign to apprehend and prosecute those who have challenged our way of life. They have shown no mercy to the law-abiding citizens of London. We, on our part, will deal with them according to the democratic values that they have denied to those who were injured or who lost their life.
 
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4.23 pm

Baroness Amos: My Lords, I first thank the noble Lords, Lord Strathclyde and Lord Dholakia, for their comments and, in particular, for the unity of purpose that has been demonstrated across the Chamber this afternoon.

I say to the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, that these terrible incidents have demonstrated the importance of the nation working together. I thank the noble Lords for the positive things that they said about the leadership of my right honourable friend the Prime Minister and of the Government, but we should thank all our political leaders for the dignified way in which they have responded to this terrible tragedy. We should thank our faith communities and faith leaders, who yesterday made an important joint statement from Lambeth Palace, and of course our emergency services. We have all thanked them. We should also thank the people of London and of Britain, who have responded magnificently. I will of course relay the message from the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, to Her Majesty the Queen.

On future legislation, I thought that I had made it clear that the timetable that was set out for future anti-terrorist legislation was the timetable that we would like to follow. That includes pre-legislative scrutiny, but, if the police and the security services require more powers more quickly, we would want the option of bringing that to the House. My right honourable friend the Prime Minister made it absolutely clear that we would seek consensus, if it is possible.

I hear the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, about the importance of not curtailing freedoms. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has responded in a dignified way over the past few days to those issues.

On the issue of democratic liberties, which was raised by the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, I cannot think of any other country in the world where the demonstration that is going on right outside Parliament this afternoon—right outside my window—would be going on. We should take immense pride in that.

Reference was made to the messages of support that we have received from world leaders and others. I can also report that we have received messages of support from other parliaments, and I am sure that the House would like me to respond to them on its behalf. Of course, I undertake to keep the House fully informed of progress.

The noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, said that it was not an attack by Islam against Britain, and of course I agree. We can be immensely proud of the diversity of our city. Strong signals have been sent by the Muslim communities in the United Kingdom expressing their horror at the attack. We all need to work together at this point. There is no more important thing to do. As the noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, said, we need to focus on catching the perpetrators and bringing them to justice. I confirm to the noble Lord that there have been discussions with the Muslim communities. They will be ongoing, and we have had a very positive outcome.
 
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On policing resources and communication service providers, I hope that the noble Lord will forgive me if I do not answer his questions now. It is part of an ongoing process. Of course, we have to learn from these experiences, but our resources at the moment are entirely focused on finding those responsible.

4.25 pm

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