Mr Humphrey Atkins: —and that if they attempt to hold meetings in Northern Ireland, the only achievement will be to put at risk the lives of innocent people?
Mr Humphrey Atkins: An interesting feature of this debate is that with the exception of the right hon. Member for Down, South (Mr. Powell), who did not refer very much to the Franks report, all the Opposition speeches have condemned the report as being inadequate in one form or another. I began to feel sorry for the right hon. Member for Leeds, South (Mr. Rees) who has been attacked from right, left and centre....
Mr Humphrey Atkins: I do not think the right hon. Gentleman has studied the report. I take a different view of the Franks report. There is no doubt that the Franks committee carried out its remit impeccably. The inquiries it made were immensely detailed. Paragraphs 4 and 5 show that its members saw every paper, minute, document, report, assessment and file that had relevance to the events of the last few...
Mr Humphrey Atkins: I should like to continue with my speech. Annex A, which has not so far been mentioned, deals with the many rumours, assertions and speculations that were flying about the country from 2 April onwards. I cannot tell why those rumours were given credence by the media, except that I get the impression that nowadays more credence is given to rumour and speculation than used to be the case. I...
Mr Humphrey Atkins: I was referring to the quality of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and to the fact that, contrary to what some people have said, it is not the practice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or its members to pursue their own policies. It is their business, just as it is the business of civil servants in all Departments, to put the options before Ministers and for Ministers to make the...
Mr Humphrey Atkins: That is precisely what happened in this case. When I arrived at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, those options were put before me. I discussed them with my colleagues. Therefore, it is nonsense to suggest that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office runs British foreign policy, and it is right that someone should say so. It is easy to poke fun at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. People...
Mr Humphrey Atkins: If the right hon. Gentleman is good enough to read the report he will find that those messages were sent on 23, 25 and 31 March. The view of the Franks committee, without qualification, is that the Argentine Government well knew our position. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary was absolutely right when he made what was virtually his first pronouncement about the Falkland Islands...
Mr Humphrey Atkins: Will my right hon. Friend redouble his efforts—and get his Cabinet colleagues to redouble their efforts, too—to get across to the IRA that, however horrified and shocked we and the country are by the events just reported to the House, the only outcome of these events will be to reinforce the determination of people in all parts of the United Kingdom that the political aims of the IRA will...
Mr Humphrey Atkins: This is, I think, the first occasion since last Friday on which the right hon. Member for Glasgow, Hillhead (Mr. Jenkins) has addressed the House. Perhaps I should congratulate him, at any rate on filling the Opposition Benches below the Gangway with slightly unusual and in some ways more agreeable faces than one normally sees there. I was particularly interested to hear the right hon....
Mr Humphrey Atkins: I like to think not, any more than the right hon. Gentleman would have been careless before he became a Privy Councillor. However, the fact that somebody has become a Privy Councillor and is known to have taken the oath means that outsiders can place reliance upon him. I place reliance upon those who have been chosen to conduct the inquiry. I rely not only upon their discretion, but upon the...
Mr Humphrey Atkins: One of the factors that entered my mind was the submission made to the Prime Minister by the hon. Gentleman on behalf of his party, when it refused to attend the conference, urging a return to Stormont.
Mr Humphrey Atkins: Does my right hon. Friend remember that when we debated the White Paper I drew the House's attention to the fact that, when I occupied my right hon. Friend's office, I convened a conference of the main political parties in the spring of 1980? I told the House on 28 April that all the parties, whether they came to the conference or not, put forward suggestions for the future governance of...
Mr Humphrey Atkins: I was pleased to hear the right hon. Member for Mansfield (Mr. Concannon) say that he was glad that we are discussing the White Paper. I know that several hon. Members—I thought that he was one—doubted it, the international scene being as dark as it is, part of our territory having been taken by force and British Service men having been in action to recover it. For all we know, they may...
Mr Humphrey Atkins: My hon. Friend should perhaps put that proposition to our right hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury. I conclude, therefore, that it is our duty to seek some improvement in the ways of governing Northern Ireland. My right hon. Friend has laid his proposals before us and has explained why he thinks that they offer the best chance of progress. I believe that we should...
Mr Humphrey Atkins: I shall return to that point because it is important. However, may I go on to say that, apart from discussing among themselves how to exercise power, the representatives of Northern Ireland should consider what powers they will exercise and to what extent. That is provided for in my right hon. Friend's proposals. We hear a certain amount nowadays about the word "integration" and my right...
Mr Humphrey Atkins: Following my statement to the House at 11 o'clock yesterday, I said in answer to supplementary questions from the right hon. Member for Plymouth, Devonport (Dr. Owen), the hon. Member for Hartlepool) (Mr. Leadbitter) and my hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn and Hatfield (Mr. Murphy) that we had been in touch with the governor of the Falkland Islands half an hour before I made my statement....
Mr Humphrey Atkins: With permission, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I shall make a statement on the situation in the Falkland Islands. Over the past 24 hours the situation has become increasingly grave. There is now a real expectation that an Argentine attack against the Falkland Islands will take place very soon. It was for this reason that we sought an emergency meeting of the Security Council yesterday and associated...
Mr Humphrey Atkins: I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his expression of support, not only for the Government but for the people of the Falkland Islands, who, as he rightly said, are determined to remain British. The right hon. Gentleman asked whether the Government misjudged the situation. The answer is "No". It has become increasingly evident over the past few days that the Argentine had assembled a fleet...
Mr Humphrey Atkins: I am grateful for the right hon. Gentleman's expression of support for the course that we are taking. The report on the tapes comes from an Argentine newspaper. We were in touch with the governor half an hour ago and he said that no landing had taken place at that time. There are no immediate plans for another session of the Security Council, but it will be called together if the situation...
Mr Humphrey Atkins: That is more a matter for my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House, who is listening to the exchanges.
