§ Mr. Concannon asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the criteria for the use of plastic bullets in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Prior: In broad terms baton rounds are only to be used where other methods of maintaining law and order are unlikely to succeed and where there is risk of loss of life or serious injury or widespread destruction of property. The operational instructions given to policemen and soldiers on their use are designed to minimise the possibility of injury.
§ The disorders in Northern Ireland which have necessitated the use of baton rounds far exceed in scale and ferocity those recently seen in Great Britain. But the security forces in Northern Ireland are accountable under the law for their actions in the same way as in England and Wales.