§ Mr. Stratton Millsasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list the occasions since August, 1969, in which Army personnel have removed cameras from Press photographers; and if he will give instructions for this practice to be stopped;
(2) why and by what authority the Army personnel in Belfast stopped David Liddel, a photographer from the Belfast Telegraph, on 26th January, removed his camera and removed the film; and if he will arrange for the film to be returned.
§ Mr. Pounderasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make a statement on the conduct of soldiers on the Shankill Road, Belfast, on the night of Monday 26th January, 1970 regarding the removal of the cameras of a Belfast Telegraph photographer and of a Belfast Newsletter photographer, and the removal of their film;
(2) if he will order the General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland, that Press cameramen in the Province, photographing in the execution of their duties, are not to be molested by Army personnel;
(3) on whose authority Press photographers in Belfast on Monday, 26th January were harassed by soldiers; and if he will take the necessary disciplinary action.
§ Mr. RichardOn the night of 26th-27th January, 1970, a crowd had assembled in and was blocking the Shankill Road, Belfast. An officer of the 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment was speaking to them in an endeavour to persuade the crowd to disperse. Mr. Liddel, a photographer employed by theBelfast Telegraph, was photographing the incident. Some members of the crowd assumed Mr. Liddel to be an Army photographer taking pictures for use in possible future prosecutions. They became extremely angry and wanted to smash the camera. For his own safety, therefore, he was asked to surrender his film to the platoon present, and this he did: unfortunately the film was spoiled on being removed from the camera. Later the officer again received complaints about the continued 395W presence of the photographer and Mr. Liddel was therefore advised to leave the area.
No film was taken from the Belfast Newsletter photographer. Cameras were not removed from either of the photographers on this occasion, nor have there been any such occasions in the past when cameras have been removed from photographers in Northern Ireland. All troops have been instructed to treat representatives of the news media with full courtesy. Having regard to the facts of the situation, no disciplinary action is called for.