Terrorism (Hansard, 19 May 1988)

§ 3. Mr. McLoughlin
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what further measures he is taking to co-ordinate action against terrorism, in the light of recent events.

§ Mr. Hurd
The Government have taken and will continue to take a leading role in international co-operation to prevent and fight terrorism. I shall be meeting Interior and Justice Ministers of the Trevi Group on 3 June at Munich and we shall take stock of a number of recent improvements in European co-operation in this area and, I dare say, discuss further proposals. Within the United Kingdom I believe that there is effective co-operation between the police and other agencies concerned.

§ Mr. McLoughlin
Does my right hon. Friend agree that the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1984 is important? Is it not a great shame, bearing in mind the important fight against terrorism, that the official Opposition refused to support the Act although they supported it when they were in office? They have opposed it only since they have become the Opposition.

§ Mr. Hurd
The Opposition not only supported the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1984; they invented it. We will have to produce and put before the House a new Prevention of Terrorism Bill because the old one is coming towards the end of its five-year life. That will give the Opposition a chance to reflect and take stock. Reinforcing my hon. Friend's comments, it would considerably strengthen the nation's efforts against terrorism if Opposition Members could bring themselves to change their position yet again and support a robust measure.

§ Mr. McCusker
Does the Secretary of State agree that sentencing policy should play a major part in the fight against terrorism? In the Secretary of State's view, what conditions should a convicted terrorist have to meet to qualify for remission of sentence?

§ Mr. Hurd
That depends on the offence for which the terrorist was convicted. If the hon. Gentleman wants to draw specific cases or instances to my attention or to that of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, I hope that he will do so.

§ Mr. Burt
As regards international terrorism, will my right hon. Friend assure the House that he and his international colleagues will bend their minds to the difficult question of press and television coverage of incidents like the recent hijacking? Does he agree that the considerable publicity given to hijackers' demands can sometimes contribute to the problems of terrorism? Will he consider the difficult area of censorship associated with that problem?

§ Mr. Hurd
I agree that it is a difficult and sensitive area. It is a matter not so much of censorship as of responsibility. Obviously the broadcasting media in any free society need to report the news with some calculation of the consequences of their actions in what they do and do not show. That matter needs consideration.

§ Mr. Cryer
Does the Home Secretary accept that pressure from the Common Market will mean the removal of all internal barriers by 1992? Is he satisfied that adequate precautions will be taken to scrutinise people to detect terrorists and the movement of drugs after 1992? Does he further accept that while he may have reservations about this, many member states want the complete removal of barriers, whatever the consequences for the increase of international drug trafficking and terrorism?

§ Mr. Hurd
The hon. Gentleman has made a very important point. Fortunately, we are not alone in stressing its importance. The Single European Act, from which the movement towards 1992 flowed, made it clear that member states must be free to continue to take effective measures against terrorists and drug traffickers. In all our detailed discussions on the movement towards 1992—for example, regarding the Channel tunnel—it will be important to maintain effective controls for those purposes.

§ Mr. Marlow
What is the media's role in the fight against terrorism? It would seem that they compete with each other in providing entertainment for the public rather than an objective review of the facts. What can be done to prevent the media from providing gratuitous support for acts of terrorism?

§ Mr. Hurd
The media need to consider carefully, whether in Northern Ireland or elsewhere, the distinction between reporting the news—letting the citizen know what is happening, without disguising the fact that we live in a brutal and violent world—and adding gratuitously to scenes of violence, thus providing, according to Lord Annan's description when he discussed this matter, additional publicity which serves the terrorist without actually adding in any way to the information of the citizen.