§ 2.36 p.m.
§ The LORD CHANCELLOR (Lord Elwyn-Jones)My Lords, it is right that before we begin today's business we should pause to pay tribute to Airey Neave. He was a great Englishman and a man of many talents as a writer, lawyer and distinguished Member of Parliament. We first became friends at Nuremburg in 1945 and it is not long since he invited me to the launching of his last book, his personal record of the trials of the major Nazi war criminals. Lord Justice Lawrence, who presided over the trials, and his colleague Mr. Justice Birkett, told me more than once of the great help that Airey had given to the tribunal and of his many qualities.
At the end of his book he wrote:
It will be many years before we can afford to forget the Nazis. Before our eyes, the problems of race and terrorism are a frightening reminder of Hitler's example. He lived by terror and his methods appeal today to the young and rootless all over the world. Those who use terror to gain their political ends are the heirs of his revolution of destruction, however much they may claim to represent opposing doctrines. The whole experience had a deep influence on my future life".I believe it coloured his attitude to terrorism in Northern Ireland and indeed anywhere else where it was used and made him its determined and uncompromising opponent.The kindest of men, his own courage knew no limits. Holder of the DSO, MC and Croix de Guerre, he escaped from Colditz after being wounded and made a prisoner of war in 1940. He then masterminded the escape of many allied pilots and prisoners of war behind enemy lines. He enriched our country in many ways by his talent as an author and parliamentarian and by the wide range of his public 1694 service. It is not only his own party that has suffered a grievous loss by his death; his death diminishes all of us. We think above all at this time of his equally brave wife and their family, to whom the House will wish to extend its deepest sympathy.
The bomb which killed Airey Neave in New Palace Yard was a threat to Parliament itself; it was no accident that it happened within the precincts of Parliament. But, so far from weakening the determination of Parliament, the Government and the public to resist the terrorists and their aim to achieve political ends by bomb and gun, it will strengthen our resolve. That I believe is what Airey Neave would have wished.
§ 2.39 p.m.
Earl FERRERSMy Lords, I agree with the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor that it is proper and fitting that we should on this occasion depart from precedent and custom in order to pay our tribute to the life and work of a Member of another place whose untimely and indeed unworthy death last Friday has affronted the conscience of the nation. Political assassination—for that is what Mr. Neave's death was—is not part of the currency of British politics. Nor does it either historically or emotionally form part of the make-up or character of the British people. Its impact when it occurs is therefore all the more startling. It is nothing short of a tragedy that one such public-spirited person as Mr. Neave should have been removed from us in this fashion. His only claim to be such a target was his endeavour to do his best, along with all the others who are doing their best, to find a solution to the desperate problems of Northern Ireland. He had not even put those thoughts into practice; his was not the responsibility to do so. But for his enemies, the thoughts were enough.
So, from the counsels of the country, goes one of the kindest and most dedicate people. Courteous, gentle, charming, almost shy, Airey Neave's façade masked a brilliant and meticulous mind, one which guided him through the war with such distinction and which enabled him to escape from the unescapable, and, having been caught, to escape again; one which enabled him to prosecute at the Nuremburg trials; and one which enabled him 1695 to become an author of no mean repute. It was that same mind which was turned to politics and, more latterly, was channelled towards the intricate complexities of Northern Ireland. It was not only intellectual ability which Airey Neave brought to enrich the political scene but also that wonderful gift of being able to talk, to understand, to listen to another's view-point, to find a way round, but yet never to compromise on belief or integrity.
Friendship, even to those of opposing views, was natural to him, as was public life. In the same way that he had contributed to his country during the war, so did he seek to do in a different capacity in times of so-called peace. There is a certain irony in the fact that it was not war, when the gun and the bullet are legitimate terms of trade, which ended Airey Neave's life: it was in a time of peace, when he earnestly sought to do nothing other than to contribute to peace and when he was unarmed, unprotected and alone, in the sanctity of the Houses of Parliament, that he met his death by the premeditated arrangement of others.
If there is one thing which has numbed the comprehension of the ordinary person even more than the sorrowful act itself, it is the mentality of those who, as if with pride, claim the responsibility for what has happened. His loss will be felt as much in the province as it will be in the mainland of the United Kingdom.
But, my Lords, in the middle of grief it is not wrong to see whether good can come out of evil, and Mr. Neave would have been the first to wish this. As terrorism stalks its evil path across the countries of the world, it is inevitable that this country will not be immune, nor has it been. There is no extra value of itself placed upon the life of a politician over and above that of a soldier, policeman, or civilian, many of whom have lost their lives, some doing their duty, some in total innocence. The significance of Mr. Neave's death as a politician, and in the heart of this democratic Parliament building, is that it has demonstrated with pristine clarity that there are those not only outside this country but also within it who are prepared to use not just fear but even death to attack the right to freedom of thought and freedom of speech.
1696 That freedom is so fundamental that we all take it for granted, and if Mr. Neave's death has shone a beacon onto that fact it will not have been in vain. At a time when, frankly, the currency of politicians regrettably does not stand very high in the mind of the public, it may be not inappropriate to be reminded that those who, whatever their political views, go as representatives of their people to the House of Commons to give of their best to the solution of the problems of their day, do so at some personal risk to themselves. To serve one's country, whether in war or in peace, is not a platitude; it is an honour—and it sometimes demands the highest price. It did in Airey Neave's case.
If, as a consequence, the standing of politicians in the eyes of the public moves just a little up the scale, his death will not have been wholly in vain. In whatever part of the House we may sit, in whichever Chamber of Parliament we may sit, we are collectively at one in realising that we have lost a friend. We have lost a colleague. We have lost a good public servant, and we have witnessed an assault on parliamentary democracy. We extend our deepest sympathy to Mrs. Neave and to her family in the considerable sorrow and anguish which they must be enduring and which, in some small measure, we also have the privilege to share.
§ Lord BANKSMy Lords, we on these Benches wish to be associated with the tributes which have been paid to Mr. Airey Neave by the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor, and the noble Earl, Lord Ferrers. We were deeply shocked to hear the news of his death and to learn of its tragic nature. I heard the news at the KÖnigswinter Conference in Germany, and we British immediately received the deep and understanding sympathy of our German hosts. In what has already been said this afternoon it has been made very clear that Airey Neave was a brave man and a conscientious servant to our democratic system. We on these Benches join in the expression of sympathy to his family, and we join also in the general determination to make it clear that terrorism does not alter policies in a democracy.
§ Lord MAYBRAY-KINGMy Lords, from the Cross-Benches, may I, as one 1697 who served for a quarter of a century with Airey Neave in the other place, join in the tributes being paid to a brave and distinguished British soldier, a fearless but gentle parliamentarian, and a close personal friend. Britain is poorer for his tragic death, but it is richer for his noble life and service. No man of this age ever served his country with greater fortitude and determination than he did. We may say of him, as of Shakespeare's Brutus,
His life was gentle, and the elements So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up And say to all the world 'This was a man!'I join with your Lordships in offering profound sympathy to his dear wife and children in the tragic loss of one who had yet so much to give his country, but who died last Friday because of his very virtues.
§ Lord BLEASEMy Lords, I wish to add my voice—an Irish voice—to that of the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor, and other noble Lords, in expressing both the utmost tribute to Mr. Airey Neave and the utmost revulsion at this heinous crime. All sections of the Northern Ireland community and the communities of the Irish Republic join in utterly condemning this horrible murder. This mindless act does nothing to resolve the problems of Ireland, but gives rise to much unnecessary suffering, hardship, sadness and grief. Our prayers and our heartfelt sympathy are with Mrs. Neave and her family at this particular time.
§ Lord KILBRACKENMy Lords, perhaps I may be permitted, as an Irish citizen, to add to what my noble friend has just said by expressing the deep shock, shame and sorrow that we felt throughout the Republic of Ireland, as in the North, at this foul murder.