Lord Macdonald was asked by the Home Secretary to provide independent oversight of the review of security and counter-terrorism powers. The purpose of the review - carried out by the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism (OSCT) in the Home Office - was to determine whether it might be possible to roll some back some of the measures imposed by counter-terrorism and other legislation over the last decades whilst still providing protection for the UK's citizens. Lord Macdonald outlines the process of the review, noting that the OSCT surveyed a wide range of evidence, engaged with many interested parties and maintained a high degree of impartiality. His report then discusses the process whereby the review reached its conclusions on: pre-charge detention; terrorism stop and search section 44); photography and the use of counter-terrorism powers; the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and local authorities; access to communications data; groups that espouse or incite violence or hatred; deportations of foreign nationals engaged in terrorism; control orders. Lord Macdonald believes that the recommended reduction in pre-charge detention to 14 days, the repeal of section 44, the greater regulation of local authority surveillance and the outright removal of those aspects of control orders that most resemble house arrest, are all to be regarded as reforms of real significance. They point to an unmistakable re-balancing of public policy in favour of liberty.