Prevention of Terrorism Debate (MR. Speaker's Ruling)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 21 Mawrth 1979.

Danfonwch hysbysiad imi am ddadleuon fel hyn

Photo of Mr Merlyn Rees Mr Merlyn Rees , Leeds South 12:00, 21 Mawrth 1979

I am sure that I shall be able to provide that information before the end of the debate. My hon. Friend the Member for Luton, East (Mr. Clemitson) has brought to my notice the case of a constituent whose prison sentence was shortened. When he came out of prison he was excluded, and his wife joined him. That is the only case that I know of. I shall examine the figures and I shall let my hon. Friend have them if they are readily available.

I turn to the renewal of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1976. It cannot be said too often that the powers contained in this Act are exceptional. I have always accepted—as, indeed, has the House since the Act's first introduction after the tragic consequences of the bombings of 1974, culminating in Birmingham—that the Act represents a temporary infringement of civil liberties, but I believe equally firmly that it was, and remains, a necessary infringement. A clear responsibility is placed upon me and upon Parliament to ensure that the police have adequate powers to deal with a savage and dangerous minority who have no respect for the life or civil liberties of others.

If there are those who had doubts that the Provisional IRA still had the will and the capability to mount a campaign, the bomb attacks last December and in January made it clear that such a view was myopic and unrealistic. I can, of course, fully understand that, after almost two years without IRA violence in Great Britain, that period of quiet may have prompted some to question the need to continue with this measure, but if that lull gave a greater sense of security it proved to be false.

I have to take into account the fact that violence may happen again. There is nothing that leads me to believe that it will not happen again. I read in the papers—hon. Members must make up their minds whether it is one report copied in all the newspapers—of the threat of a bomb attack during the general election. At one time I would have read that and pooh-poohed it. Unfortunately, when I hear of that threat today there is a question at the back of my mind. I have the same question at the back of my mind when I consider whether to renew the legislation.

We cannot ignore the part played by this legislation, and by the hard work of the police in general, in preventing the Provisional IRA from resuming its bombing campaign sooner. Indeed, in August 1978 a spokesman for the Provisional IRA recognised the efforts of the police in this country in limiting the IRA's ability to operate here. He said that it had not resumed its campaign in Great Britain because of"logistic difficulties ". Those logistic difficulties are the major factor in preventing terrorism in Great Britain. They cause difficulties in obtaining the fuses and the equipment, getting them to a place where they can be put together, and finding a store place where nothing can go wrong in the short term. At one time these activities were carried out in an amateurish way. Now, with the collection of information from all parts of the world, those activities are more difficult to deal with, but dealing with them is the most important job in the effort to defeat terrorism.

There is no doubt that the difficulties faced by the Provisional IRA stem, in part, from the use of these powers. Of course, I do not say that they are the complete reason. The bombings of December and January indicate that the Provisional may have partially succeeded in overcoming the problem, but the powers do not make it easy for them. One must never be absolute in these matters because one can be proved wrong so quickly. In my view the House has a duty not to make the job of the terrorists even easier.

Let us be in no doubt that the Provisionals are prepared to mount further attacks in this country. They are prepared to inflict heavy casualties and extensive damage to property. Anyone who saw the bombs near the oil terminal on Canvey Island could not possibly believe that the placing of those bombs was designed to produce a little explosion, because of the amount of oil at the terminal. The same must be said of the incident at a gas holder in Greenwich.

These attacks show the nature of the people involved. I have known about them for far too long to believe that they are people with a temporary aberration who might change their minds over-night. The police must be given the powers that they need to apprehend and detain those responsible for such acts.

That applies not only to the Provisional IRA but equally to the paramilitary groups on the other side of the divide who engage in similar acts of terrorism. I remind the House that the powers under the Act both to detain and to exclude have been used to deal not only with the IRA but with members of other Northern Irish terrorist groups, and much of that has been done in recent months. I say this, in particular, to my hon. Friend the Member for Belfast, West (Mr. Fitt), who has quite properly in the past felt strongly—he still does—that the Provisional IRA must be dealt with. I have always given him credit for that, and I remind him that the Act has been used against the UVF, the UFF and other groups. I believe that this has been noted in the newspapers.

We must be absolutely resolute against acts of terror related to Northern Ireland.