§ Viscount MerseyMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government when they hope to have their Civil Defence film completed.
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, we anticipate that the film will be completed by the autumn.
§ Viscount MerseyMy Lords, I thank my noble friend for that reply. Perhaps I should declare an interest in that I make documentary films: however, my supplementary question relates not to the making, but to the distribution. Is there not a danger that a film such as this will be realistic and prudent and therefore, by definition, rather boring in contrast to the CND films, such as "Threads" and "The Day After", which are rather unrealistic, imprudent and dramatic? Will my noble friend not agree that television thrives on drama and disaster? To that end, can my noble friend tell me how she proposes to reach the widest possible audience with this film?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, my noble friend Lord Mersey knows far better than I that in the media on the whole bad news is news and good news is no news. It will be up to the film maker to produce a film of the highest professional standard. We intend that it should be as widely available as possible both to those actually engaged in Civil Defence planning and to the general public through, for example, film libraries. We hope that the television companies will take up the film, though that is a matter for them.
§ Lord Jenkins of PutneyMy Lords, is the noble Baroness aware that a number of important organisations, including the British Medical Association, have expressed the view that it is doubtful whether it is possible to provide an effective civil defence against nuclear war? Will the film take that into consideration?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, in the unlikely event that the tragedy of war, of any kind, occurs, I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Jenkins of Putney, survives and lives to bless the activities of Civil Defence.
§ Lord RentonMy Lords, can my noble friend assure us that the film will embrace the all-hazards approach, including the possible use of chemical weapons and the need to provide protection against them?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, for presentational purposes the scope of the film must be limited, but in the absence of a ban on chemical weapons we acknowledge the increased importance of these matters and we shall look very carefully at my noble friend's suggestion.
§ Lord MolloyMy Lords, is the noble Baroness aware that we hope that, in the event of a thermonuclear war, not only my noble friend Lord Jenkins of Putney, but also the noble Baroness will survive? Is she also aware that they would probably suffer more than the 50—odd million human beings on this island who would be destroyed? The experts tell us that those who survive are likely to be those who suffer most.
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, the Question on the Order Paper deals with a film about Civil Defence.
§ Lord MishconMy Lords, perhaps I may ask a question which I hope will be more concise and less controversial than those already asked. Will the film endeavour to tell the truth?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonYes, my Lords.