HC Deb 26 April 1988 vol 132 cc190-1
6. Mr. Skinner

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received about the implications of the Military Land Act 1892 for rights of passage on common land at or near defence establishments.

14. Mr. Heffer

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received about the implications of the Military Land Act 1892 for rights of passage on common land at or near defence establishments.

Mr. Freeman

In the past 10 years, when making new military byelaws under the Military Land Act 1892, the Secretary of State has received four representations that the proposed byelaws could prejudice rights of way on common land and 11 representations that they would prejudice rights of common.

Mr. Skinner

Is it not the case that, during those years, the Government have broken the law and encouraged the arrest—and imprisonment in some cases—of several thousand people at Greenham Common and on Salisbury Plain? If the Conservative party is to masquerade as the party of law and order, why do the Government not do the decent thing and acknowledge that fact in the courts? Moreover, perhaps the Minister could ask the Secretary of State for Defence to resign in view of this carry-on.

Mr. Freeman

I have no intention of asking my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence to resign. The hon. Gentleman is probably referring to the decision of the Reading Crown court about byelaws at Greenham Common. That decision, which the Crown Prosecution Service has appealed against, has nothing whatever to do with rights of way. It is to do with the rights of specific commoners. Byelaws affecting Greenham Common were introduced in 1985 for the proper reason of protecting the integrity of the base.

Mr. Haffer

Is it not clear that before 1979 the Military Land Act 1892—[HON. MEMBERS: "Reading."] That is right. Unlike Conservative Members, I can read. Is it not quite clear that since the Government came into office they have been concerned only with stopping democratic protests by ordinary people, including the women of Greenham Common? Would it not be wise for the Government to do the sensible thing—wind up that base, get rid of it and give back the land as common land for ordinary people?

Mr. Freeman

We have not been stopping the rights of individuals to protest democratically. The 300 byelaws, in particular those at Greenham common, prevent illegal trespass on to the base. In no way do they stop the right of democratic protest. Hon. Members who encourage people to enter the base do so on their own responsibility. Those who enter the base at Greenham Common will be apprehended and removed.

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