HC Deb 05 March 1987 vol 111 cc1019-21
5. Miss Fookes

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will review the law relating to incitement to crimes of violence in the light of the publication of magazines and manuals giving explicit instructions on methods of attacking and killing human beings, copies of which have been sent to him; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Mellor

Extending the law on incitement would be difficult. I understand that one of the publications that my hon. Friend has in mind has been referred by the police to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who is considering it.

Mr. Fookes

Does my hon. Friend accept that there is a real difficulty in an increasingly violent age if manuals and magazines such as those have a wide circulation and fall into the hands of irresponsible young people? His answer is not good enough.

Mr. Mellor

My answer simply tells my hon. Friend what the present state of the law is. It would be premature to judge that law as inadequate while the most offensive of those magazines are still being considered by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Mr. Chris Smith

Does the Minister intend to take any steps against a book entitled "The Poor Man's James Bond" which is on widespread sale in London and which not only tells people how to commit acts of violence but encourages them to do so? As it is an imported book, could not the Customs Consolidation Act be used against it?

Mr. Mellor

I will look into what the hon. Gentleman says.

Mr. Peter Bruinvels

Will my hon. Friend accept that there are a number of these weapons of death, martial arts magazines and especially magazines promoting crossbows, which definitely encourage people to take the law into their own hands? Will he do everything possible to reinforce what my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth. Drake (Miss Fookes) has said? We must outlaw such magazines and stop people being violent and being tempted to use glamorous weapons, which are really used by cowards.

Mr. Mellor

I am afraid that I cannot add anything to what I said in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Drake (Miss Fookes).

Mr. Soley

Will the Minister look again at the proposal that we put to Conservative Members on a number of occasions saying that there should be a standing committee in the Home Office to make recommendations on this type of thing? It is precisely because this matter is difficult to legislate on that the Government are in a mess. As long as they have policies which undermine the social fabric they will continue to have a high and rising rate of crime and threats of violent crime. If we are to get round that, we need some sort of licensing system. The Home Secretary could set up something today to look at that.

Mr. Mellor

The Government are not in a mess. We have applied the law and will consider, once the Director of Public Prosecutions has had the opportunity to consider those matters, whether anything further needs to be done.

Before the hon. Gentleman comes to the Dispatch Box and talks about law enforcement being in a mess, he should ensure that he can influence those Left-wing council leaders in London who are doing more damage to law and order in the capital than anyone else I can think of.