§ The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Leon Brittan)With permission, Mr. Speaker, I should like to make a statement about the bomb explosion at the Grand hotel in Brighton on 12 October.
The House will be well aware of most of the circumstances of the explosion, the purpose of which was no less than to strike a blow at the heart of our democracy by killing the majority of the Cabinet. The gravity of this outrage is reflected in the fullhearted condemnation expressed from all parts of the House and the country at large, as well as from overseas.
I know that the whole House will wish to join me in expressing our deepest sympathy to the families of our late colleague Sir Anthony Berry, Mrs. Jeanne Shattock, Mr. Eric Taylor and Mrs. Roberta Wakeham, who lost their lives. We wish a speedy recovery to the 32 people injured, of whom six are still in hospital. I know that the thoughts of all in the House will be with them, including, of course, our colleagues, my right hon. Friends the Members for Chingford (Mr. Tebbit) and for Colchester, South and Maldon (Mr. Wakeham). I also take this opportunity to pay tribute here to all those in the emergency services who responded so magnificently, some of them in conditions of great danger, immediately following the explosion.
The Sussex police immediately commenced a full, urgent investigation of this crime and this is proceeding. They are receiving assistance from the Metropolitan police anti-terrorist squad and forensic, technical and computer assistance from the Home Office. I stand ready to provide whatever further resources and help may be required.
The task of obtaining evidence about the bomb itself is a formidable one. So far, 31 skips and 750 dustbins full of debris have been removed from the scene. Two hundred and twenty-eight police officers are engaged in this operation. High winds and the dangerous state of the hotel structure have made their task more difficult. In addition, more than 200 police officers are engaged in the pursuit of inquiries. The police are not yet in a position to describe more fully the device itself beyond the fact that it is believed to have comprised about 20 lb of commercial explosive.
A number of measures have been set in hand since the explosion. The chief constable of Sussex decided to ask the deputy chief constable of Hampshire, Mr Hoddinott, to conduct an inquiry into the security arrangements in place at Brighton at the time of the Conservative party conference. I will receive a copy of that report. At this stage, it would be wrong to anticipate its conclusions. I shall, however, to the extent that this does not prejudice security, report them to the House in due course.
With regard to the wider implications for security of the events at Brighton, in the first place, immediate attention has been given to the assessment of other potential targets and the provision of proper protection for them. I shall not, of course, give details of the changes that have been made and the measures involved. I can, however, assure the House that after appropriate discussions the House authorities have already set in hand new measures to improve security in the Palace of Westminster.
The Brighton bombing also demonstrates the vulnerability of party political engagements. This applies locally as well as nationally. Local party organisers should 441 be careful to contact the police about arrangements well in advance; and the police service is co-ordinating advice to local forces about how they can best respond. I shall also shortly be in touch with the national party organisations.
In addition, I have set in hand new arrangements centrally for countering the Irish terrorist threat. The aim is to bring to bear the widest range of experience in assessing Irish terrorist intentions and capabilities, and to advise on, and co-ordinate, the counter-measures required to meet them. These measures will supplement the continuing role of the Metropolitan police special branch as the focal point for the collection and evaluation of intelligence and for police operations against Irish Republican terrorists.
Total security is impossible in a free, democratic society. Political and other leaders are vulnerable because they must be accessible. Everything that can be done will be done to prevent such outrages and to protect their targets. But we will not be bombed into boltholes by terrorists. Those who believe that terror can prevail against democracy understand neither the Members of this House nor the British people.
§ Mr. Gerald Kaufman (Manchester, Gorton)On behalf of all my right hon. and hon. Friends, I express our deep sympathy to all who have been bereaved by the bomb outrage at Brighton, and our best wishes to all who were injured for a full and speedy recovery.
We in this House have lost a valued colleague by the murder of Sir Anthony Berry, and we send our condolences to his widow, together with our good wishes for her recovery. We send our condolences, too, to the Government Chief Whip on his own grievous bereavement and trust that he will soon be recovered and back among us. Our good wishes for recovery go as well to Mrs. Margaret Tebbit, and we look forward to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry returning to the House in his usual rude health.
We offer our thanks and our praise to the firemen, to the hospital workers, to the police and to all in the public services who worked so heroically and so devotedly to rescue or to succour the victims.
Let us be quite clear about what happened at the Grand hotel in Brighton on 12 October. This was no random act of violence. It cannot be compared, and it should not be compared, with any other act of violence, great or small, that takes place within our society. This was a deliberate attempt to destroy a Government by mass murder. Yes, that Government are a Conservative Government with whom we have the most serious differences, but they are a democratically elected Government. They are the British Government. Let it be said in the plainest terms that the only way that we get rid of a Government in Britain is by the ballot box. Terrorism and assassination have no place whatever in the political process in this country. We utterly and unanimously reject them and we shall fight with every fibre of our being against them. With Voltaire, we on this side of the House say to the Government, "We disapprove of what you say, but we will defend to the death your right to say it."
Serious questions of security obviously arise from this event. Of course, we understand that an inquiry has been ordered by the chief constable of Sussex, but in our view there should also be an examination of the whole question of the security of the Government and, indeed, of this 442 Parliament. Many details of such an inquiry would have to be kept confidential, but as much of it as possible should be published in order to reassure the public.
While we here are obvious targets for terrorist action, and while it is important to ensure the maximum possible security compatible with the right of the people to have access to their elected representatives, let us be clear that our security is no more important than that of the whole of the population, who are at risk from these foul gangsters. Just because we have chosen to take part in public life, we have no right to expect greater safety than those who may be caught up in a Harrods' bombing or a Regent's park atrocity, or indeed, those in Northern Ireland—civilians and troops—who face these dangers every day of their lives. We are all in the front line and we must face these risks unitedly together.
Repulsive and hideous murder took place in Brighton 10 days ago in the circumstances of a political conference. At that conference, as they will be in this House during the coming Session, profound and fundamental political differences were displayed in the democratic manner of our country. From the perspective of democracy the differences between the two sides of this House are as wide and as deep as a great gulf. From the perspective of terrorism they are an imperceptible crack in the rock of democracy.
Let it go forth from this House of Commons that an attack on any of us is an attack on all of us. We shall resist that attack and we shall win.
§ Mr. BrittanI am extremely grateful to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Mr. Kaufman) for what he said, for the way in which he said it, for the expressions of sympathy and good wishes and for his thanks and praise for the emergency services. What the right hon. Gentleman said about democracy is profoundly important and reflects the beliefs of everyone in the House.
In relation to the wider questions of security, in addition to those being looked at by Mr. Hoddinott, a comprehensive examination is appropriate and necessary and it is in hand. As the right hon. Gentleman underlined, the difficulty of making public the conclusions of any inquiry is all too real.
§ Mr. Julian Amery (Brighton, Pavilion)Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware of how horrified and saddened the people of Brighton, of all political persuasions, are that this should have happened in our constituency? I am sure that we all strongly endorse the statement by my right hon. and learned Friend and by the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Mr. Kaufman).
I thank my right hon. and learned Friend for the tribute that he paid to Brighton's fire and hospital services. I know from personal experience that these tributes are well deserved. I thank him, too, for explaining the position with the police service. In my judgment there has been much unfair criticism of the police force, and it has been made long before any inquiry has taken place. It was possible in the police state of Nazi Germany to plant explosives in Hitler's headquarters, and we must realise how difficult it is in a democracy to ensure the safety of a hotel where Ministers are gathered together. The implications will take some time to digest. I hope that the public generally will refrain from any criticism of the Sussex police force, certainly until the inquiry has been concluded.
§ Mr. BrittanI am grateful to my right hon. Friend for what he has said and I endorse every word of his remarks about the fire and hospital services and the unfair criticism that has been heaped on the Sussex police. There is wisdom in withholding comment on the police force until the inquiry has been completed.
§ Mr. David Steel (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale)On behalf of my colleagues, I express heartfelt sympathy to those who were bereaved and those who were injured in this terrible outrage. I do not wish to ask any questions on security matters until the Home Secretary has received the report of the deputy chief constable of Hampshire. I understood the right hon. and learned Gentleman to say that we would return to that matter. That being so, when does he expect the report to be available to him?
Does the right hon. and learned Gentleman agree that the IRA has hopelessly misunderstood both public and parliamentary opinion? Whatever our differences we are one democratic family in the House, and when one member of that family — in this instance the Conservative party—is hurt, the effect is to unite all the members of the family in their determination not to bow to terrorism.
§ Mr. BrittanThe remarks of other right hon. and hon. Members confirm the truth of what the right hon. Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Mr. Steel) has said about one democratic family and serve to underline the message that has already gone out from the country. I cannot say when Mr. Hoddinott's report will be available. Obviously everyone concerned realises that the inquiry should proceed as quickly as possible, but everybody realises also that if the job is to be done properly, and if any lessons that are to be learnt are to be learnt properly, it must be done as thoroughly as possible.
§ Mr. Andrew Bowden (Brighton, Kemptown)Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that the words of my right hon. Friend the Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Mr. Amery) will be received warmly in Brighton and that they represent the views of Brighton as a whole? The town is still deeply shocked by what happened. I have been touched by the expressions of sadness from constituents of all political views. People have stopped me in the street to ask that messages be given to the House. I assure my right hon. Friend that his remarks about the police and the ambulance and fire services in Brighton will be greatly appreciated.
Did my right hon. and learned Friend read the article about the Sussex police force in Sunday's edition of The Sunday Times? It is one of the most scurrilous pieces of exploitive journalism that I have seen. It attacks the police and misrepresents the truth. It claims that there are serious differences between the Metropolitan police and the Sussex police, which is entirely untrue. Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that The Sunday Times printed the names of witnesses, when it was asked specifically not to do so by the assistant chief constable? Is that not impeding the course of justice and making it more difficult to bring the guilty to book?
§ Mr. BrittanI am grateful to my hon. Friend for what he has said about the reaction in Brighton generally. I can say from my experience in my constituency and from travelling in other parts of the country that the public's reaction and the messages of sympathy have been enormous and overwhelming throughout the country.
444 I saw the article to which my hon. Friend referred. I shall not comment in detail, but it is important for me to make it absolutely clear that there is no truth in the suggestion that there were differences of opinion between the forces involved in the investigation of this matter or in the suggestion that inadequate resources were available.
§ Mr. James Molyneaux (Lagan Valley)On behalf of my party, I join in offering our deepest sympathy to the Government and to those who have been bereaved and injured. In seeking co-operation in the battle against terrorism, will the Government avoid paying any price that would concede, in whole or in part, the objectives of terrorism?
§ Mr. BrittanWe certainly do not intend to do so.
§ Sir John Biggs-Davison (Epping Forest)Are we not grateful for the words of sympathy and of condemnation uttered by members of the Irish Government? Does not the fact that the British Isles constitute a common travel area carry grave security implications? Will the Prime Minister be discussing the further improvement of co-operation when she meets Dr. FitzGerald, who has described these Republican terrorists as the common enemy?
§ Mr. BrittanMy hon. Friend is right to welcome Dr. FitzGerald's firm statements, which show that the Republic and the United Kingdom share a common determination to overcome terrorism. I have no doubt that when the Prime Minister meets Dr. FitzGerald, the best way of showing that common determination will be one of the subjects on the agenda.
§ Mr. Robert Maclennan (Caithness and Sutherland)My right hon. and hon. Friends wish to be fully associated with the single-minded view of all right hon. and hon. Members on the predicament of the bereaved. In considering the wider implications on which the Home Secretary touched in his statement, what attention is he giving to the importance of some central supervision of advice and information, especially that given to the chief officers of the smaller police forces? Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman look particularly at the possible role in this regard of the Chief Inspector of Constabulary?
§ Mr. BrittanI am grateful for what the hon. Gentleman said. I referred in my statement to new central arrangements for countering the Irish terrorist threat. I am happy to confirm to the hon. Gentleman and to the House that those arrangements will cover both the assessment of Irish terrorist intentions and capabilities, and advice on and co-ordination of counter-measures required to meet those capabilities, in whatever part of the country where that may be necessary.
§ Rev. William McCrea (Mid-Ulster)My colleagues and I join hon. Members in utterly condemning a vicious and brutal attack on the Government. On behalf of the vast majority of the people of Northern Ireland, will the Home Secretary please accept from me that we extend our sincere sympathy to those who have been bereaved and our earnest prayer that those who have been injured will be brought speedily back to health and strength? I record my thanks to Almighty God for preserving the life of our Prime Minister and the members of her Cabinet. Does the Home Secretary agree that further measures will be needed urgently to defeat terrorism in the United Kingdom?
§ Mr. BrittanI am grateful for the hon. Gentleman's expressions of sympathy. They are much appreciated. I 445 have revealed some of the further measures that have been taken, but, as I have said, further assessment and changes will be considered also.
§ Mr. Donald Stewart (Western Isles)I associate my colleague and myself with the expressions of sympathy by the Home Secretary to his colleagues and the bereaved and with the good wishes for those still in hospital. Is the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that there will be widespread support for the resolve shown by both sides of the House that the democratic process will not be diverted by such hideous and wicked barbarity?
§ Mr. BrittanI entirely agree with the right hon. Gentleman, and I am grateful to him for what he has said.
§ Mrs. Jill Knight (Birmingham, Edgbaston)Will my right hon. and learned Friend reflect on the fact that the IRA could not continue its campaign of anarchy without help from its two major sources of supply of money and arms — the Soviet Union and the United States of America? Have any representations been made about this matter to the United States?
§ Mr. BrittanI think that everyone is aware of the great expressions of sympathy and horror from the United States. Representatives of the United Kingdom Government are constantly, formally and informally, telling people in the United States that no money of any kind that can be used directly or indirectly should be provided for infamous purposes such as the action that we have seen during the past week or so. I think the House has noted also that, spontaneously and without any prompting from United Kingdom representatives, the public and the media in the United States have expressed revulsion in excess of any that we have seen in the past. I hope that that fact will be reflected by people not giving assistance of any kind to those organising that help.
§ Mr. Stuart Bell (Middlesbrough)The Home Secretary referred to the condolences that he had received from overseas. He referred in his latest answer to the reaction of the United States' people. Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman take this opportunity to commend the editorials that appeared in the Washington Post and the New York Times, which advised the American people that a dollar for Noraid was a dollar for death? Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman take this opportunity to reiterate to the American people that by putting money forward in this way they are in no way assisting in finding a solution to the problems of Ireland?
§ Mr. BrittanI shall gladly do so. When answering the previous question I had those two articles primarily in mind.