[Mr Michael Moore (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale): The hon. Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis) has made a perfectly valid case. I suggest that if the court were not properly set up and did not receive the right backing from across the world, none of his worries would come to pass. We shall, indeed, be in difficult circumstances if we get ahead of ourselves, as he may, perhaps, have been suggesting.

… We find ourselves in considerable uncertainty as a result of the position of the US Administration. … There is a world of difference between not ratifying the statute and actively trying to undermine it; unfortunately that is the US Government's present position. ... (It) might carry more weight if the United States showed slightly more respect for the citizens of other countries whom it alleges have committed international crimes. The people who are caught up in Guantanamo Bay at the moment might like to pause and consider the irony of that.]

Dr Julian Lewis: For the sake of clarity, is the hon. Gentleman suggesting that what might or might not be happening in terms of prison conditions on Guantanamo Bay could be the sort of circumstance which he imagines being examined by the International Criminal Court?

[Mr Moore: I was making a separate point. We do not want to be sidetracked into a debate on Guantanamo Bay, but the rights and jurisdiction of those who are there is not best practice as we would enjoy it. The Americans should not be so worried about other jurisdictions when that is the case.]