Baroness VICKERSMy 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 when a pamphlet entitled Protect and Survive, printed by the Home Office, is to be made public.
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, the booklet Protect and Survive was issued in October 1976 to local authorities for training purposes. It could only be distributed to householders in conjunction with a television and radio campaign to advise the public of the immediate precautions to be taken in the event of an international crisis.
Baroness VICKERSMy Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for that reply, may I ask whether local authorities are getting on with working out their schemes? May I also ask whether the real reason why this booklet has not been distributed is that on 22nd March the Minister in another place stated that no collective decision had been made in respect to the early airborne warning system?
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLMy Lords, in reply to the first part of the noble Baroness's supplementary question, I myself asked whether in fact local authorities are going ahead with this matter and my information is that in every county council—which includes the Greater London Council—not only has the chief executive a copy of the booklet but there is a team of emergency planning officers responsible for civil defence planning. That is a matter which is going on the whole time. With regard to the second part of the supplementary question, 156 there may well be some disagreement as to when a state of emergency is likely to exist, but the fact remains that there are television videotapes, sound radio tapes and a great deal of material for the national Press which can be brought into operation in, I think it is fair to say, a matter of minutes. That would be far more useful than issuing something now which we hope may not be needed for a long time.