Terrorism (Hansard, 19 November 1992)

§ 5. Mr. Trimble
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the current terrorist campaign in England.

§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke
The Government condemn terrorist crime wherever in the United Kingdom it occurs, and support the police and others in their work to secure the conviction of those responsible.

§ Mr. Trimble
No doubt the Home Secretary has seen recent press reports suggesting that more than 20 tonnes of explosive was available to the Irish republican army in the London area this year. Most of it, thankfully, has been intercepted.
The explosive appears to have been manufactured and assembled largely in the London area, and it takes more than a dozen people to make up a large bomb. Does the Home Secretary agree that such activity is difficult to conceal, and ought to be readily detected by ordinary people who are vigilant?

§ Mr. Clarke
As the hon. Gentleman knows, we have had some spectacular successes in recent weeks in intercepting bombs and explosives. I congratulate the police, security men and others concerned on their courage and vigilance. Obviously, we give no details of operational activity against the IRA, but I agree with the hon. 400 Gentleman that it is important for us to succeed in dealing with the IRA members who are operating in London. That requires sustained vigilance on the part of ordinary members of the public, as well as the police service and the security people.

§ Mr. Bowden
The House has expressed gratitude to my right hon. and learned Friend for praising the brave police officers who have faced armed men when they themselves have nothing but a truncheon. Is he holding discussions with police representatives to see whether anything can be done to improve the provision of rapid back-up with armed men when such incidents happen in the future? Does he agree that they will happen again, probably before Christmas?

§ Mr. Clarke
Regrettably, in modern circumstances we must deploy armed policemen in operations, and we can do so rapidly. It is best to deploy specially trained men who are disciplined in the use of firearms, and that is done on such occasions. PC Hall and his colleague in Stoke Newington were unarmed and on ordinary patrol; we all admire their courage in facing men who turned out to be armed. I am glad to say that PC Hall is making extremely good progress, and recovering from his injuries.

§ Mr. Eastham
Does the Home Secretary recognise that nowadays some very sophisticated policing equipment is available in the form of national fingerprint files, computers and communications? When I wrote to the Home Office recently about the budget for such equipment, I was informed that it was contained in the global figure for policing in the Greater Manchester area. That meant that less than 1 per cent. of the total budget was available for sophisticated equipment. Most of the money is being spent on trying to provide and pay for policing.

§ Mr. Clarke
In fact, considerable progress has been made. The national criminal intelligence service is now up and running, and is providing a very effective and sophisticated operation of intelligence gathering for the whole country. We are making good progress towards computer-aided fingerprint matching, which operates in a number of police authorities now, and we are on course for the introduction of a national system in due course.
Modern technology is being deployed very effectively in the police service. Over the past 10 years, we have sustained a high level of investment in the service, in terms of men, equipment and modern technology.