§ 31 and 32. Mr. Ramsdenasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what plans he has for defending vulnerable points in the United Kingdom during a period of severe tension in Europe;
(2) what plans exist for organising home defence in the United Kingdom should conventional war break out in Europe.
§ Mr. HealeyIt would not be in the public interest to give details of such plans.
§ Mr. RamsdenWill the right hon. Gentleman recognise that nothing that has been said, certainly today or in the recent defence debates, has sufficed to allay the considerable public anxiety which exists about the apparent inadequacy or absence of plans for safeguarding the home base in the event of trouble developing abroad? Will he take steps to allay that anxiety?
§ Mr. HealeyI think that the right hon. Gentleman grossly exaggerates the degree of public anxiety. Anxiety has not been expressed to me in any form by any member of the public.
§ Mr. Ronald AtkinsDoes not my right hon. Friend agree that one of the best ways of defending a vulnerable home base would be to bring home B.A.O.R. and save £220 million at the same time?
§ Mr. HealeyNo, Sir. I take the opposite view, as I explained in the last defence debate, and it is a view which at least commanded the support of the Front Bench opposite. A situation in which there might be a threat to the home base is more likely to arise in Europe and we can best meet that by concentrating troops on the Continent.
§ Sir A. V. HarveyIf a foreign Power flew a civil aircraft loaded with commandos into London Airport, how would the right hon. Gentleman deal with the situation?
§ Mr. HealeyThe hon. Gentleman will not expect me to answer that supplementary question.
§ 37. Mr. Goodhartasked the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to review the provision made for 448 home defence following the recent acts of sabotage in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. HealeyNone. Our plans for home defence relate to general war.
§ Mr. GoodhartDoes the right hon. Gentleman still believe that an internal sabotage campaign would not coincide with a grave emergency abroad? Does not the lesson of Ulster underline the folly of slashing our reserve forces?
§ Mr. HealeyOn the contrary, as I have explained in previous debates, tens of thousands of regular Servicemen will be available in Britain in case of war. The problem in Northern Ireland at the moment is being dealt with by a few hundred infantrymen partly because in Northern Ireland a large part of the police are caught up in duties which have no parallel, and would have no parallel, I hope, in this country.
§ Mr. Ripponis the right hon. Gentleman aware that it is wrong to say that there is no public anxiety about the state of our home defences? Where are these tens of thousands of troops to come from if we are also committed to Europe? Has he seen what the Under-Secretary of State had to say recently—that all we have for home defence is the Household Brigade and storekeepers? The N.A.T.O. treaty places upon each country its own responsibility for home defence, and we are the only country in Western Europe which is making no proper provision for home defence.
§ Mr. HealeyWe debated this in detail on the Defence Estimates and the House found against the right hon. and learned Gentleman. But as I said earlier, tens of thousands of professional Servicemen will be available in Britain in case of war, and I mean that this would be so after all those troops committed to N.A.T.O. for service outside the United Kingdom have left the United Kingdom.