§ 7. Mr. Duffyasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many sectarian murders were committed in Northern Ireland in November; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesTwenty-six murders were committed from 1st to 28th November, but it is impossible to say which were of a sectarian nature. With regard to the second part of the Question, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer to the Private Notice Question by the hon. Member for Antrim, North (Rev. Ian Paisley) on 25th November.—[Vol. 882, c. 29–30.]
§ Mr. DuffyHas my right hon. Friend noticed how many of these murders appear to have been committed this month on a tit-for-tat basis? Will he assure us that where those involved are known to his forces they will be pulled in and that no manpower shortages will affect patrols in high-risk areas? Will my right hon. Friend give the latest information?
§ Mr. ReesMy hon. Friend is right about the tit-for-tat nature of the matter. In investigating these cases, one finds that 607 inevitably reports in newspapers or on television of killings in one part of the community undoubtedly play a part in bringing about a very quick response.
The security forces are making strenuous efforts to stop the sectarian murders, which are taking place in Belfast in particular and which are causing so much anguish and distress in both communities. I am glad to say that during intensive operations in the past 24 hours, 34 people have been arrested, of whom three have already been charged with murder and 21 are still assisting with inquiries.
I shall use whatever processes of law are available to me, including the Emergency Provisions Act, to deal with sectarian murders and murders which are dressed up as sectarian murders. I am glad to be able to report these figures, which were given to me as I entered the Chamber.
§ Mr. Ian GilmourThe whole House congratulates the Royal Ulster Constabulary on its activities. In view of the tit-for-tat nature of the killings, and that some of them are not sectarian, in that both victim and murderer belong to the same community, will not the Secretary of State do something to see that the religion of victims is not publicised, either in official statements or elsewhere, or at least is publicised as little as possible elsewhere?
§ Mr. ReesThis is an extremely difficult matter. It would be invidious for me to mention any particular case known to me, but in many parts of Northern Ireland, particularly away from Belfast, which is more closely knit, when a murder takes place it is at once clear what the religion of the victim is. It is just not possible to keep that knowledge absolutely quiet in the area involved, because it soon gets round the local grapevine. In my investigations into this problem, I have found that sometimes there is a response many miles away in another area, where people could not possibly have known the religion of the victim except by reports which had appeared, but there is no doubt that in an individual area the religion of those concerned is known at once by the very nature of that area.
§ Mr. DempseyDoes not my right hon. Friend agree that people are running round the Province more dangerously armed than people were in the old Wild West? Does he recall that when the Labour Party was in Opposition my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister asked the then Government about the possibility of calling all arms in and re issuing guns only to those in danger of attack? Has my right hon. Friend considered that proposition?
§ Mr. ReesWe have indeed looked most carefully at this matter—very much so at the prompting of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister. The whole question of guns is being looked at. My hon. Friend is right about the increased number of arms, but the fact is that the murders are committed not with legal arms but with illegal arms. There are people in different parts of the world who provide money and guns. As fast as we pick up illegal guns, new weapons enter the Province. If we could deal with that traffic we should have done something to deal with the situation.