§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALEMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their policy for the protection of North Sea exploration rigs and production platforms against sabotage, or seizure by hostile groups.
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, HOME OFFICE (LORD HARRIS OF GREENWICH)My Lords, the legal position is that off-shore installations on the Continental Shelf of the United Kingdom are treated as part of the United Kingdom for the purpose of the law. The responsibility for them rests with the same authorities as would be responsible on land. The threat to these installations is kept under review, but, as your Lordships will understand, such assessments must remain confidential if the measures taken in consequence are to be effective.
§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALEMy Lords, in thanking the noble Lord for that reply and recognising that in Defence matters a degree of confidentiality is to our mutual advantage, may I ask him whether he would not agree that the hazard that evil-minded people might try to hijack these platforms is a very serious one—much more serious than is perhaps realised—and might, if undertaken on a 860 sufficient scale, gravely interfere with the defence of the North Sea?
§ LORD HARRIS OF GREENWICHMy Lords, I think there is a potential hazard here and all I can say to the noble Earl is that this matter is kept under review by the Departments concerned and is treated with the appropriate degree of seriousness.
§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALEMy Lords, if I may ask the noble Lord one further question, can he say whether there has ever been any security clearance for people who work on the platforms that now exist in the Southern part of the North Sea and those proposed for the Northern part?
§ LORD HARRIS OF GREENWICHMy Lords, of course the contractors involved have a clear interest in this matter and they keep it closely under review.
§ LORD LEATHERLANDMy Lords, does my noble friend not think that the more we talk about this subject the more likely we are to put ideas into the heads of evil men?
§ LORD HARRIS OF GREENWICHMy Lords, I warmly agree with my noble friend that there is nothing more for me to say on the matter.
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, while not quite agreeing with the noble Lord who asked the last question, did I hear the noble Lord, Lord Harris of Greenwich, correctly as saying that the installations are under the same authority as if they were on land? By that does he mean that the Royal Navy has no role to play in this matter?
§ LORD HARRIS OF GREENWICHMy Lords, this matter is kept under close consideration by all the Service Departments and, although from the point of view of the criminal law of this country the installations are treated as though they are part of the United Kingdom, of course the Defence services keep this matter under their close attention.
§ LORD BLYTONMy Lords, would not the noble Lord agree that to protect all the oil rigs on the Continental Shelf would need a huge extension of our naval forces?
§ LORD HARRIS OF GREENWICHMy Lords, I am sure that is one of the 861 many considerations that my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence will keep under review.
§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALEMy Lords, will the noble Lord be so kind as to look again at his reply to my last supplementary question, in which he suggested that the contractors, having an interest in the matter themselves, can (as we understood him to say) be trusted with what amounts to a security clearance? They cannot conceivably have the resources for this.
§ LORD HARRIS OF GREENWICHMy Lords, if people enter the United Kingdom they come under consideration in the normal way as potential immigrants to this country if they are non-British nationals, and, therefore, they have to secure the normal immigration clearance. All I said in reply to the specific point raised by the noble Earl was that obviously the contractors have a particular interest in this matter and we have every confidence that they treat it with the appropriate degree of seriousness.
§ THE EARL OF LAUDERDALEMy My Lords, could the contractors keep the I.R.A. at bay?