HC Deb 13 June 1967 vol 748 cc309-16
The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Wilson)

With permission, Mr. Speaker, I wish to make a statement.

The Government have received the Report of the Committee of Privy Councillors who were appointed to examine the circumstances surrounding the publication of an article in the Daily Express of February 21, entitled 'Cable Vetting Sensation' in relation to the D Notice system; and to consider what improvements, if any, are required in that system in order to maintain it as a voluntary system based on mutual trust and confidence between the Government and the Press in the interests alike of the freedom of the Press and of the security of the State. The Government wish to take this opportunity to thank Lord Radcliffe and his two colleagues for the great care and thoroughness with which they have examined a very complex subject.

The Report will be published in full, and it will be available to hon. Members in the Vote Office at 4 p.m. today.

I should also tell the House that the Report has an Annex dealing with certain very secret aspects of the Committee's inquiry, and that, in accordance with the Committee's recommendations, this will not be published. Naturally, however, in accordance with our normal custom in these matters, the Annex has been made available, together with the Report itself, to the right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition.

Moreover, in view of the importance and complexity of the issues involved, the Government have thought it right, with the concurrence of Lord Radcliffe and his colleagues, to publish, in addition, the evidence which was given to the Committee. Certain portions of this evidence have had to be omitted on grounds of security, but the whole of it has been seen by the right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition, and I think that he will confirm that he is satisfied that the omissions are necessary on security grounds.

Finally, in the light of the Report, the Government have closely examined all the circumstances surrounding this incident, including the actions of the Departments concerned, and also considered its implications for the future of the D Notice system. The Government's conclusions are contained in a White Paper which is being published simultaneously with the Report and evidence.

The Government have been giving very careful thought to the lessons to be drawn from this incident by both parties to the D Notice system. The White Paper emphasises that the Government attach the greatest importance to maintaining and strengthening the D Notice system and to retaining the free and voluntary co-operation of the Press in its effective working. For their part, they will do all in their power, consistently with their overriding responsibility for national security, to contribute to this purpose. I propose, therefore, to take the earliest opportunity of discussing personally with the Press how this might best be done.

When hon. Members have had time to study the documents which are being published today, the House will, no doubt, wish to debate them. The necessary arrangements can be discussed through the usual channels.

Mr. Heath

I confirm what the Prime Minister has said, that I am satisfied that the omissions and deletions which have been made are necessary on grounds of security.

Will the Prime Minister now tell the House whether Lord Radcliffe's Committee confirmed his accusation in the House that the story in the Daily Express was a breach of the long-standing D Notice convention?

The Prime Minister

The House will read the Report for itself and our White Paper. [HON. MEMBERS: "Answer".] I shall answer the question. I have not got the text of the Report before me, but Lord Radcliffe states, first, that it is very difficult to form a view on this. He states that prima facie it would appear to be in breach, but he goes on to say—paraphrasing it—that, in the light of the practice under which the D Notice system is now operated, he considers that there was no breach. In our White Paper we give our reasons why we believed then, had reason to believe, and still believe, that there was a breach of the D Notice.

I should say, further, that Lord Radcliffe has confirmed what many had thought was one of the main issues here, that there has been no change in the practice under the system. There has been no change in the practice which, I told the House, had operated for over 40 years. To this end, therefore, the whole sensational article was based on something which is not endorsed by the Report.

Mr. Heath

As the Prime Minister has rejected the main finding of the Radcliffe Committee, will he say whether he accepts or rejects the rest of the recommendations?

The Prime Minister

Certainly, I shall answer that question. We accept the recommendation with regard to the practice. As regards Lord Radcliffe's recommendation for changes in the system, it is quite clear that the system cannot be left where it is. There have been faults on both sides. It is now clear that the system is in danger of total collapse, following this incident, and that this would have grave effects on security. While we accept Lord Radcliffe's recommendation for improvements in the system, we believe that they do not go far enough, and we have further proposals, which will be indicated in the White Paper, for an improvement in the working of the system. We are very anxious, as I said in my statement, to do this in such a way that it can be done without limiting the freedom of the Press.

Mr. Bellenger

While congratulating my right hon. Friend on deciding to publish the Report to the House—after all, it was this House that set up the inquiry—are the deletions on the grounds of security minimal in quantity or substantial?

The Prime Minister

I must say, first, as the right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition said, that all the deletions are confined to those necessary on grounds of security. There are no deletions so far as the Report is concerned, but only the non-publication, as recommended by the Committee, of the secret annex which deals with some of the most secret things it had to consider. Similarly, with the evidence, there are very few deletions apart from that part of it which relates to the secret annex. I think that I am right in saying—the right hon. Gentleman will confirm this—that the deletions are very small in relation to the total volume of the evidence available.

Sir D. Walker-Smith

Since it appears that the Prime Minister made a charge and that Lord Radcliffe and his Committee, after careful investigation and objective consideration, have concluded that it is not well founded, would it not be proper for the Prime Minister, while no doubt maintaining his good faith in the matter, to make some expression of regret?

The Prime Minister

I think that the right hon. and learned Gentleman should await his study of the Report—of all that the Report says and not only the conclusions referred to by the right hon. and learned Gentleman. He should also, as I am sure he will, study the evidence and our White Paper. Then, when we debate it, it would be right for all of us in the House to express our views on the matter.

Mr. Thorpe

Is the Prime Minister aware that many of us would like to be associated with his expression of gratitude to the very distinguished Privy Councillors, and also welcome the opportunity of an early debate? Can he say what is the position of the Secretary of the D Notice Committee, Colonel Lohan? Has he tendered his resignation, or is that not so?

The Prime Minister

I think that he made announcements to that effect last week when certain stories appeared in the Press that he was going to do so. Perhaps I may take this opportunity to make clear something on which there has been some misunderstanding. Colonel Lohan has not been submitted to any disciplinary procedure nor has he been before any disciplinary board. Because of certain rather important conflicts in the evidence affecting the particular incident, and since, in the White Paper, we wanted to deal not only with the incident, but with reforms in the D Notice system, it was necessary to go more deeply into some of these questions. Colonel Lohan was asked to appear before the appropriate Civil Service board in order to do this, but there was certainly no question of disciplinary proceedings in what occurred.

Mr. Ensor

Did the Radcliffe Report disclose the sources revealed to the Daily Express on the night of 21st February of the story which appeared the following day under the headline, "Cable Vetting Sensation"?

The Prime Minister

The sources were not disclosed on the night of the 21st, as is clear from the Report. This story had been picked up several days earlier, first by the Daily Mail and then by the Daily Express. As to the source, it is a Mr. Lawson. I think that there is a full account in the Report of Mr. Lawson and his activities. I should make clear that the Daily Express has made clear in its evidence that there is no question of cheque book journalism. It did not pay him any money. Mr. Lawson, however, is now pressing for money.

Sir Richard Glyn

The Prime Minister said that there were faults on both sides. For which faults does he take responsibility, and will he make an apology to the Daily Express and the other newspapers concerned?

The Prime Minister

The hon. Gentleman will form his own view when he has studied the Report. As for which faults I take responsibility, they are all those in the Government machinery so far as this was concerned. There were undoubtedly—and it is clear from the White Paper that this is why action was thoroughly needed—defects in communisation between Departments. There were misunderstandings of instructions, there were instructions given that were not carried out in one particular case. I would take my responsibility certainly with those right hon. Gentlemen who have preceded my right hon. Friends and myself in our office for the way in which certain aspects of the D Notice system are run.

The very difficult and anomalous position of the Secretary is adversely commented on in the Report. We intend to make a number of reforms in this sphere and the fact that he was not put in a position to know all the facts which he should have known and the reason why. For all these, I accept responsibility.

Mr. Moonman

We are all grateful for my right hon. Friend's statement. Did the Radcliffe Committee examine the statement made by Mr. Chapman Pincher on 22nd February that his inquiries showed that Although sporadic checks of cables had always been permissible"—

Hon. Members

Reading.

Mr. Moonman

It is a quotation.

Mr. Speaker

The hon. Gentleman cannot make a quotation in a supplementary question. He must ask his own question.

Mr. Moonman

Would the Prime Minister be prepared to make a statement on this important matter, because I think that it is relevant to all the inquiry?

The Prime Minister

I have already dealt with this point by saying that the Committee makes it clear that there has been no change in the practice. The article was, as I said in the House originally, highly sensationalised. On the second day it referred to Big Brother methods of interception of cables and all the rest of it. Whether Big Brother or not, it is clear from the Radcliffe Committee, as I told the House originally, that there has been no change in the methods as operated by the previous Conservative Government and, indeed, by every Government for a number of years. I think that on behalf of the previous Conservative Government and myself I should refute the suggestion that it is done on Big Brother lines.

Mr. Carlisle

The Prime Miniser says that it is proposed to publish a White Paper setting out the facts and reasons why the Government believed, and still believe, that there was a breach of D Notice procedure. Were all those facts and grounds of belief set before the Radcliffe Committee when it apparently rejected that statement?

The Prime Minister

Yes, Sir. The Government gave evidence to the Committee. When I say the Government, I mean the individuals concerned in these events. So did more than one newspaper—a number of newspapers concerned. But—and this was the point from which we started—any Government have overriding responsibility for security here. It is the Government's view that this whole incident has had a very serious effect on security. We are concerned to minimise the effects on security and that is why we have gone into these questions so fully.

Certainly, if the situation were left where it is today by the Radcliffe Report it would be impossible to operate a satisfactory security system in this country. That is why we disagree with the Report in this important finding.

Mr. Heath

Is the Prime Minister aware that whatever issues may be raised by the Report, and that he himself is raising in the White Paper, the central issue remains that he accused the Daily Express and its executives of a deliberate breach of the D Notice convention and that the Radcliffe Committee, formed by the Prime Minister at the highest level, has rejected that accusation?

This is a question of the Prime Minister's own standing in the matter and a question of misleading the House and making an accusation against a newspaper. If the Government will give time for the debate, it is this central issue on which the debate must centre.

The Prime Minister

Certainly, the debate will centre on this, and I shall deal with this matter in the debate. But I do not accept that it is the only or, indeed, the central issue. The central issue of this whole question is the Government's responsibility for security and how this can be secured with full regard to the freedom of the Press and the danger done by this. The right hon. Gentleman and I and one or two of my right hon. Friends, alone in the House, have seen the Report and so we have this advantage or disadvantage compared with other hon. Members. The right hon. Gentleman has seen the whole very difficult argument before the Committee reached its ultimate conclusions. It is a conclusion which, for reasons which I have stated and will state more fully in the debate, we cannot accept.

Several Hon. Members

rose—

Mr. Speaker

Order. I think that we shall be debating this when we have all seen the Report.

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