§ Lord ELLENBOROUGHMy 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 whether all possible security arrangements have been made by the appropriate authorities against potential acts of terrorism on public houses which are in the immediate vicinity of barracks and which arc prime targets for the IRA because they are frequented by substantial numbers of the Armed Forces off duty.
§ The MINISTER of STATE, HOME OFFICE (Lord Harris of Greenwich)My Lords, it is the responsibility of the owner or user of private property to take appropriate precautions against potential criminal acts. The police are always ready to give advice, but they cannot mount a continued presence at all places where attacks may occur. Recent incidents have demonstrated how alertness by members of the public can save lives.
§ Lord ELLENBOROUGHMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that Answer. I appreciate the very great difficulties involved, but. I should like to ask him the following questions. First, bearing in mind the comparatively few public houses known to be frequented by considerable numbers of the Armed Forces, and therefore especially likely to be singled out as targets by terrorists, has anything been done to encourage the installation of special safety material over windows, such as I believe is being installed in Whitehall offices and the like; or, at the very least, strips of paper or various forms of plastic material, such as 1140 were used in the last war, so as to minimise injury by flying glass?
Secondly, in view of what appears to be the increasing risk of indiscriminate attack without warning—or virtually without warning—in public houses, restaurants, hotels and similar establishments used by the public, is it not time that Home Office posters were prominently displayed giving practical advice and instruction to the public regarding what action they should take for their protection and to avoid confusion?
§ The LORD PRIVY SEAL (Lord Shepherd)My Lords, the noble Lord is being slightly overlong with his supplementary question, and there is a custom in your Lordships' House that supplementary questions are not taken from a piece of paper.
§ Lord HARRIS of GREENWICHMy Lords, on the latter point raised by the noble Lord, this matter is constantly under review by the Government. With regard to the noble Lord's earlier point regarding physical security, advice on these questions is available from the police.