§ 2. Mr. Cyril D. TownsendTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the extra police expenditure resulting from the War Crimes Act 1991.
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. John Patten)Additional police expenditure associated with the War Crimes Act 1991 is estimated at £930,000 for 1991–92.
§ Mr. TownsendOn reflection, does my right hon. Friend agree that precious police resources—the figure of £2 million has been mentioned—should not be used on vindictive, Soviet or Israeli-type show trials which are bound to be a travesty of British justice as practised by this country for a long time? Should not the money be used instead to deal with rapists, murderers and muggers in my constituency and in other parts of Greater London today?
§ Mr. PattenThere are two points there. I respect my hon. Friend's strong personal feelings, but I point out to him that Parliament has expressed its view very strongly. It is now up to those charged with the duty of investigating alleged crimes to do so. My hon. Friend knows as well as I do that no Government have brought the police force to such a level as this Conservative Government have done. It is better manned, it has more resources and it is better equipped than any police force in British history.
§ Mr. WinnickI totally disagree with what the Minister said about police resources. We know only too well of the crime wave in this country.
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that last Friday, on a delegation to Kiev, I took the opportunity—as I had always promised myself that I would if ever I were in Kiev —to visit Babi Yar, just outside the city limits, where in two years of Nazi terror and occupation tens of thousands of people were murdered? There is a monument to those who fell—men, women, children, babes in arms and the aged. Why should those responsible for such crimes and atrocities against humanity go scot free because they have managed to escape justice for 50 years?
§ Mr. PattenI appreciate the effect that the hon. Gentleman's visit, of which I was not aware, must have had on him. Parliament has already expressed its view that investigations should proceed and, if necessary, prosecutions should be brought. It is then a matter for due process of law before a trial judge and jury as to whether people are found guilty and punished.
On the hon. Gentleman's first point, if he implies any strictures at all, he should be aware of the amount of help that has been given to the police force since 1979. He should recall that in the last two years of the last Labour Government, up to 5,000 police men and women were leaving the police force each year and voting with their feet.
§ Sir John FarrIs it not time to cease the spiteful vendetta against a group of pathetic old people who really have nothing left to offer?
§ Mr. PattenAgain, I respect my hon. Friend's strongly held personal views, but Parliament has expressed its views and I cannot add anything to the answer that I gave to the two previous questions.