The Sketch: Praise the Lords, sense at last on the Terror Bill

Semi-audible but entirely admirable, the Lords are the glory of our parliamentary system. No wonder the Commons wants to do away with them.

They are rumoured to be about to throw out the Counter-Terrorism Bill, that 42 days thing Gordon brought back in a show of strength. If he's planning an early election he may let it lie; or if he thinks it'll help, maybe he'll force it through.

The Lords put up probing amendments on some of the less controversial clauses. The difficulty of examining encrypted files came up. For the Government, the amiable Lord West ("I'm just a simple sailor") said how much impenetrable material there is on computers – some of it even written in Arabic. Those were particularly difficult, especially when the force didn't have Arabic-speaking policemen. A glimpse into our counter-terrorist capability: "My God, sir, it seems to be written in a code no one has ever seen! Their cunning is beyond fiendish!" I suggest a statutory instrument requiring that all documents written for the purposes of terrorism be in at least one proper language.

Neither were these the most unintelligible documents. Baroness Hanham read out a clause that baffled all who heard it. Lord West admitted he'd read it at 4.30am and had to ask for a speaking note to explain it –which was as mysterious as the drafting. Lord Onslow (the most powerful argument for a hereditary presence in the Lords) gave his translation. "If we seize something illegally and it turns out to be useful, we can use it."

That is, if police find evidence of unrelated criminality, they can use it for prosecution. Child porn... yes, I suppose so. Drug dealing, if you insist. But what about... illegal downloads the kids have made?

Oh, no, no, no, the Government says. It wouldn't be like that. That would lead to "fishing expeditions" (where the police kick your door in, throw a net over everything and hope to find something wrong). Inconceivable, ministers say. That's against the code. Trust us.

But then yesterday, the money in Iceland's defaulting bank was frozen under a prevention of terrorism law. "Unwittingly," Lord Onslow said, laws drafted like this "lead to possibilities of oppression".

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