§ Lord Williams of MostynMy Lords, with the leave of the House, I shall now repeat the Statement to which I referred earlier. The Statement is as follows:
"Mr Speaker, I am grateful that you agreed to the recall of Parliament to debate the hideous and foul events in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania that took place on Tuesday, 11th September.
"I thought it particularly important in view of the fact that these attacks were not just attacks upon people and buildings, nor even merely upon the United States of America; these were attacks on the basic democratic values in which we all believe so passionately and on the civilised world. It is therefore right that Parliament, the fount of our own democracy, makes its democratic voice heard.
"There will be different shades of opinion heard today. That, again, is as it should be, but let us unite in agreeing this: what happened in the United States on Tuesday was an act of wickedness for which there can never be justification. Whatever the cause, whatever the perversion of religious feeling, whatever the political belief, to inflict such terror on the world, to take the lives of so many innocent and defenceless men, women and children can never be justified.
"Let us unite too with the vast majority of decent people throughout the world in sending our condolences to the government and the people of America. They are our friends and allies. We the 3 British are a people who stand by our friends in time of need, trial and tragedy and we do so without hesitation now.
"The events are now sickeningly familiar to us. Starting at 8.45 a.m. United States time, two hijacked planes were flown straight into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York. Shortly afterwards, at 9.43, another hijacked plane was flown into the Pentagon in Washington. At 10.05, the first tower collapsed; at 10.28, the second; later, another building at the World Trade Centre. The heart of New York's financial district was devastated: carnage, death and injury everywhere. At around 10.30, we heard reports that a fourth hijacked aircraft had crashed south of Pittsburgh.
"I should like, on behalf of the British people, to express our admiration for the selfless bravery of the New York and American emergency services, many of whom lost their lives.
"As we speak, the total death toll is still unclear, but it amounts to several thousands. Because the World Trade Centre was the home of many big financial firms, and because many of their employees are British, whoever committed these acts of terrorism will have murdered at least 100 British citizens, maybe many more. Murder of British people in New York is no different in nature from their murder in the heart of Britain itself. In the most direct sense, therefore, we have not just an interest, but an obligation to bring those responsible to account.
"To underline the scale of the loss that we are talking about, we can think back to some of the appalling tragedies that this House has spoken of in the recent past. We recall the grief aroused by the tragedy at Lockerbie, in which 270 people were killed, 44 of them British. In Omagh, the last terrorist incident to lead to a recall of Parliament, 29 people lost their lives. Each life lost was a tragedy. Each one of those events was a nightmare for our country. But the death toll that we are confronting here is of a different order. In the Falklands War, 255 British servicemen perished. During the Gulf War, we lost 47. In this case, we are talking about a tragedy of epoch-making proportions.
"As the scale of this calamity becomes clearer, I fear that there will be many a community in our country where heart-broken families are grieving the loss of a loved one. I have asked the Secretary of State to ensure that everything that they need by way of practical support is being done.
"Here, in Britain, we have instituted certain precautionary measures of security. We have tightened security measures at all British airports and ensured that no plane can take off unless its security is assured. We have redirected air traffic temporarily so that planes do not fly over central London. City Airport is reopening this morning.
"We have also been conscious of the possibility of economic disruption. Some sectors, such as the airlines and insurance industry, will be badly 4 affected. But financial markets have stabilised quickly. The oil producers have helped to keep the oil price steady. Business is proceeding, as far as possible, as normal.
"There are three things that we must now take forward urgently. First, we must bring to justice those responsible. Rightly, President Bush and the United States Government have proceeded with care. They did not lash out; they did not strike first and think afterwards. Their very deliberation is a measure of the seriousness of their intent. They, together with allies, will want to identify with care those responsible. This is a judgment that must and will be based on hard evidence.
"Once that judgment is made, the appropriate action can be taken. It will be determined; it will take time; and it will continue over time until this menace is dealt with properly and the machinery of terror destroyed. But one thing should be very clear. By their acts, these terrorists and those behind them have made themselves the enemies of the civilised world. The objective will be to bring to account those who have organised, aided, abetted and incited this act of infamy. Those who harbour or help them have a choice: either to cease their protection of our enemies or to be treated as an enemy themselves.
"Secondly, this is a moment when every difference between nations, every divergence of interest and every irritant in our relations are put to one side in one common endeavour. The world should stand together against this outrage. NATO has already, for the first time since it was founded in 1949, invoked Article 5 and determined that this attack in America will be considered an attack against the alliance as a whole. The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday passed a resolution which set out its readiness to take all necessary steps to combat terrorism. From Russia. China and the EU, from Arab states, Asia and the Americas, and from every continent of the world has come united condemnation. This solidarity should be maintained and translated into support for action.
"We do not yet know the exact origin of this evil. If, as appears likely, it is so-called Islamic fundamentalists, we know that they do not speak or act for the vast majority of decent, law-abiding Muslims throughout the world. I say to our Arab and Muslim friends: neither you nor Islam is responsible for this; on the contrary, we know that you share our shock at this terrorism. We ask you as friends to make common cause with us in defeating this barbarism that is totally foreign to the true spirit and teachings of Islam. I would add that, now more than ever, we have reason not to let the Middle East peace process slip still further but, if at all possible, to reinvigorate it and move it forward.
"Thirdly, whatever the nature of the immediate response to these terrible events in America, we need to rethink dramatically the scale and nature of the action that the world takes to combat terrorism.
5 "We know a good deal about many of these terror groups. But, as a world, we have not been effective at dealing with them. And, of course, it is difficult. We are democratic; they are not. We have respect for human life; they do not. We hold essentially liberal values; they do not. As we look into these issues, it is important that we never lose sight of our basic values. But we have to understand the nature of the enemy and act accordingly.
"Civil liberties are a vital part of our country and of our world. But the most basic liberty of all is the right of ordinary citizens to go about their business free from fear or terror. That liberty has been denied in the cruellest way imaginable to the passengers aboard the hijacked planes, to those who perished in the trade towers and the Pentagon, and to the hundreds of rescue workers killed as they tried to help.
"So we need to look once more nationally and internationally at extradition laws and the mechanisms for international justice. We need to look at how these terrorist groups are financed and their money laundered, and at the links between terror and crime. We need to frame a response that will work and will hold internationally. This form of terror knows no mercy and no pity, and it knows no boundaries.
"Let us make this reflection. A week ago, anyone who suggested that terrorists would kill thousands of innocent people in downtown New York would have been dismissed as alarmist. But it happened. We know that these groups are fanatical, capable of killing without discrimination. The limits on the numbers that they kill and their methods of killing are not governed by morality. The limits are only practical or technical. We know that they would, if they could, go further and use chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons of mass destruction. We know also that there are groups or people, occasionally states, who trade the technology and capability for such weapons. It is time that that trade was exposed, disrupted and stamped out. We have been warned by the events of 11th September. We should act on the warning.
"So there is a great deal to do and many details to be filled in. Much careful work must be undertaken over the coming days, weeks and months. We need to mourn the dead and then act to protect the living. Terrorism has taken on a new and frightening aspect. The people perpetrating it wear the ultimate badge of the fanatic. They are prepared to commit suicide in pursuit of their beliefs. Our beliefs are the very opposite of those of the fanatics. We believe in reason, democracy and tolerance.
"Those beliefs are the foundation of our civilised world. They are enduring; they have served us well. History has shown that we have been prepared to fight, when necessary, to defend them. But the fanatics should know that we hold those beliefs as strongly as they hold theirs. Now is the time to show it".
My Lords, that concludes the Statement.
§ 9.58 a.m.
§ Lord StrathclydeMy Lords, I thank the noble and learned Lord the Leader of the House for repeating the Statement today. It was right that Parliament should be recalled in view of the enormity of this atrocity. I congratulate the Prime Minister on his firm and decisive response. I endorse many of the specific comments made by him in recent days.
We on this side also wish to associate ourselves with the Leader of the House in expressing our deepest sympathy and condolences to the thousands of innocent victims, their families and their friends. In particular, I think of the many British people who have lost relatives, colleagues and friends in this catastrophe. We grieve for them and with them.
However, our concern and sympathy knows no boundaries. It goes to the citizens of the United States, Australia, Japan and all other nations who have been bereaved by this catastrophe. This was an attack not only on America; it was, as many have already said, an attack on us all. I cannot express it more highly. The reality is that no words are adequate to express the emotions that we feel. Each of us will carry personal thoughts with us for the rest of our We remember those families in our prayers and we will not forget them. What is more, we express our utter contempt for those who planned, supported and carried out these infamous crimes. We must not forget them either.
We express our total solidarity with President Bush, members of Congress, the mayor of New York and all those responsible for leading in the aftermath of this tragedy. I trust that we shall all join in saying to the people of the United States, "In this appalling hour, Britain, a fellow freedom-loving nation, stands alongside you wholeheartedly, without equivocation and come what may".
I wonder whether the noble and learned Lord the Leader of the House would consider sending a message of support and sympathy from this House to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and to Vice-President Cheney, as President of the Senate. That would be a fitting tribute.
We shall of course have a much faller debate later today, so I shall simply make some brief points. First, we accept no excuses, no explanations and no apologies from anyone. This was premeditated mass murder. It deserves the most united, determined and unqualified response from every nation of the world. We are not yet certain who the perpetrators were, but in time we will be. We do not know whether any government assisted them but, again, in time we will. No one should leap to conclusions. However, evidence is already accumulating and will the noble and learned Lord the Leader of the House assure us that, when the US authorities have sufficient proof, Britain will support President Bush in the action that he orders against these criminals and their sponsors and that this country will provide whatever practical or logistical support we can?
Secondly, the Prime Minister talked of the machinery of terror in the world. 'There are many terrorist organisations that have contacts with each 7 other—from South East Asia to Kosovo, Albania and South America—which are linked and which deal with each other. That international network traffics in death, drugs, arms and human suffering and misery. It respects no moral values or borders. We must allow it no safe haven. Does the noble and learned Lord accept that we need to be realistic about the nature of this international threat? Those organisations are hugely and increasingly wealthy and carefully organised and are supported and sheltered often by the governments of some countries. The machinery of terror is far-reaching and it shares a common purpose—to subvert our societies and exploit the weak.
We have recently seen disturbing links between the IRA and marxist guerrillas in Colombia. Last autumn we saw Provisional IRA supporters meeting openly in London with Kurdish extremists. An international threat requires an international response. Does the noble and learned Lord agree that the democratic countries of the world need to bear down, united and unrelenting, on every link in the terrorist network? There is no soft or hard terrorism; there is only terrorism. We must break its financial backers, dissuade its political sympathisers, choke off its arms and confront countries that give it refuge and support. There must be no appeasement.
Both the Prime Minister and President Bush are right to say that finance is a key issue. I hope that the Government will review all sources of finance for terrorist or terrorist-linked organisations in our country. Will the Prime Minister undertake, for example, to review urgently the legislation that allows Sinn Fein-IRA and other Northern Ireland parties, alone among British political parties, to raise money abroad? He will find us keen to help in framing new legislation on this and other measures.
Finally, I have three brief observations. First, we must keep blame pointed where it should be—on the terrorists. No one should join in a game of recrimination or blame about why this happened—that can give satisfaction only to the terrorists. Nor, I hope, will anyone portray the calm and measured response of President Bush and his team as involving weakness or uncertainty. Those who take that line will find that they are making a very grave mistake.
Secondly, the target chosen was an economic as well as a national and city symbol. The world already stands in a perilous economic position. No one should talk up the cost of the damage done or the dangers to the world economy because confidence is a fragile thing. Confidence is one of the weapons that we will all need successfully to fight such terrorism. Will the noble and learned Lord join me in congratulating the central banks and other authorities that have acted swiftly and responsibly to avoid any blow to the world's financial system?
In conclusion, the mood of this House and this country is clear. We are shocked, yes, but calm, committed and determined that life will go on as normal and that the world will not be changed, that justice will be done, that terrorism will be defeated and 8 that our Government must play a full and unequivocal part in that. They can be sure in that of the Opposition's unswerving support.
§ 10.6 a.m.
§ Lord Rodgers of Quarry BankMy Lords, on behalf of these Benches, I welcome the Prime Minister's Statement and the words he chose—both their tone and substance. It was right that Parliament was recalled and we may well have to meet again before 15th October if developments justify that.
It is too soon to measure the full weight and direction of these terrible events. Above all, this has been a tragedy for the American people. We share their profound shock, we remember the men and women—the many thousands of them—who have died and we mourn with their families and friends. Of course we include the loss of life of many United Kingdom citizens.
The turbulent consequences are now beginning. The international political landscape is dramatically changing. It is not a cliché to say that a premium will be attached to the nerve and wisdom of world leaders. The Cold War dominated a generation in almost every country. Those leaders, East and West, knew their calculated risks and their balanced choices. There are no such rules to mediate this new unpredictable conflict.
There are many questions. A massive failure of security led to these events. It will not be easy to protect our free and open society without compromising values. Terrorism must be defeated but if we are to make a safer world it must be one world, not a divided world of rich and poor.
As for the American response, it will be immensely difficult to show restraint. I hope that President Bush will take a long view and include in that the political dimension by which terrorism will be removed. I shall not raise further questions—my colleagues will speak during the debate.
§ 10.9 a.m.
§ Lord Williams of MostynMy Lords, I stress how grateful we all were to the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, for his response—he displayed the dignity and decency that we all know so well. I gratefully accept, on behalf of all of us, his imaginative suggestion that we should send such a letter; I shall see to that today.
The noble Lord asked a particular question to which I respond by turning to Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. It is worth bearing its words in mind. I said earlier, when I was repeating the Prime Minister's Statement, that this is the first time that that article has ever been invoked. Article 5 states:
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all, and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually, and in concert with the 9 other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area".The noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, sought reassurance about the firm solidarity that we are demonstrating to our friends and colleagues in the United States. Everyone that I have encountered agrees that the Prime Minister's immediate, firm, unconditional support to the people and government of the United States in their time of need resonates throughout our country. There will be no deviation from that.The noble Lord is right; this is an international threat. Such gross crimes need substantial funding. We must be more diligent than we have been in pursuing the vast amounts of money which are transmitted internationally and are inevitably required for the kind of criminal activity witnessed earlier this week. As your Lordships know, that legislation is well under way.
All recent governments in this country are able to say that they have appropriately supported the United States, which was struck not because it is the United States but because it is such a significant leader of the free world. The noble Lord, Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank, was right to say that when the response comes it must not overlook the core values which it is intended to defend and protect. All legislation dealing with terrorism is constantly kept under review, as it should be.
Finally, the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, asked about the central banks and institutions. It is right to say that they have behaved with remarkable prudence and fortitude. It seems that the New York markets will be open by Monday. The oil price has stabilised. There has been general assistance on an internationally cooperative basis to maintain economic circumstances which, plainly, one of the purposes of the attacks was to erode or to destroy.
§ 10.13 a.m.
§ Lord Craig of RadleyMy Lords, I thank the noble and learned Lord the Leader of the House for repeating the Statement, which talked about shades of opinion. I am sure that Her Majesty's Government will agree that there can be no shades of opinion about the killing of so many thousands of innocent people. I am sure, too, that all Cross-Benchers will want to be associated with expressions of sympathy and condolence to the bereaved.
Does Her Majesty's Government agree that: the scale of such terrorist action can point only to highly sophisticated, planned, organised acts of carnage with control arrangements which can take account of such factors as the weather and changes in flight plans? Is that not a clear indication that highly sophisticated arrangements were put in place by the perpetrators of those terrible acts?
§ Lord Williams of MostynMy Lords, I am sure that we are all grateful to the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig of Radley, for his expression of sympathy which 10 will be transmitted. In the context of the United States that will be by the mechanism suggested by the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde.
I agree with and endorse the comments made by the noble and gallant Lord. This was pitiless cruelty organised in a devious, persistent way. There is no other way that such co-ordinated crime could have been committed.