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Mr. Iain Duncan Smith (Chingford and Woodford Green): The Opposition are grateful to the Prime Minister for his statement. He is correct to condemn attacks on British Muslims wherever they take place, and on their places of worship. I join fully in supporting him in that statement. Furthermore, our support should also be stated for those who have lost loved ones, as the Prime Minister said. We watched their dignity in their suffering and were not only impressed but took it as a lesson to us all. I hope that it is one we will never lose.
It is just over three weeks since the terrible events of 11 September in New York and Washington. Although the initial shock may well have subsided, our outrage remains, our anger is constant and our determination to bring the terrorists to justice must remain undiminished. The Prime Minister said that he would put before the House some of the evidence that shows that Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda planned and carried out the atrocities
on 11 September, that they have the will and resources to carry out further atrocities, that the United Kingdom and its citizens are and could be targets and that bin Laden and al-Qaeda were able to commit those atrocities because of their close relationship with the Taliban regime. What bin Laden did before 11 September made shameful reading—what he did on 11 September adds to the existing list of charges.I agree with the Prime Minister that there are good reasons why it would not be possible to release all the intelligence that he has. To do so could put lives at risk. The right hon. Gentleman has shared with me more than he is able to present here today and on that basis I am convinced that Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and the Taliban are guilty as charged. Any war against these people is a just war. We must stand ready to fight for our democracy and for civilised values everywhere. Our prayers and our support, however, will also go out to our armed forces and their families for what they may be called upon to do in whatever may follow.
The events of 11 September show that terrorists such as bin Laden now accept no limits and that the rogue states harbour and nurture such terrorists, using them as instruments of their twisted purpose. In so doing, they place themselves outside the family of civilised nations. To defeat terrorism will require action on all fronts, as the Prime Minister rightly said. We need to strike at the terrorists themselves and to neuter the threat from the rogue states that give them succour. We also need to tackle the links between terrorism and the organised crime that helps to finance and sustain it.
I agree with the Prime Minister that the immense task ahead requires unprecedented levels of international co-operation. He is to be congratulated on his efforts in conjunction with those of President Bush to build a coalition of such diverse nation states. It is the clear responsibility of every civilised country to do what it can to stamp out this evil that threatens us all.
Some people may worry about the effect that military action could have on the survival of that coalition. Does the Prime Minister agree that it has been assembled for a purpose, which is to eradicate the threat of terrorism and the apparatus of terror as well as to bring those responsible for 11 September to account? It is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Therefore, will he consider carefully the role that Iraq may well have played and any threat that it continues to or might pose as a sponsor of such international terrorism?
Some people have genuine and understandable anxieties that British involvement is more likely to make Britain a direct terrorist target. Surely our response must be to remind them of the hundreds of Britons who died in the World Trade Centre. Britain is already a target: it has already been attacked and could be attacked in the future.
We recognise too, however, that any action against Afghanistan will almost certainly increase the exodus to refugee camps in surrounding countries. Millions of Afghans have already been driven to them by a combination of drought and the collapse of existing aid programmes, as the Prime Minister said. Therefore, I welcome his statement about the increased level of aid. Will he also undertake to ensure that the money allocated to the refugee crisis is spent to ensure that the camps meet as closely as possible internationally agreed standards and
respect for basic human rights and that if possible no one country should bear a disproportionate responsibility for housing them? Finally, after taking whatever action may be required, we must plan for the millions of refugees to be able to return swiftly to a homeland that will be able to sustain them in their normal lives.The Prime Minister spoke of measures to be proposed by the Home Secretary. In the context of 11 September we will certainly give our support to whatever measures are justified and we will scrutinise them in the usual way.
The Prime Minister rightly emphasised that this is not a war against Islam, but a war against terrorism—all terrorism, as he said. That has been recognised in Muslim countries such as Pakistan and others and by the majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom, many of whom I have met to discuss this issue, as has the Prime Minister. However, a small number of totally unrepresentative groups and individuals remain, to whom the Prime Minister referred as abusing the freedoms that we enjoy to voice support and raise money for terrorism, and in some cases to plan acts of terrorism overseas. When Sheik Omar Bakri Muhammad can claim from the safety of this country that the Prime Minister is a legitimate target for assassination if he visits a Muslim country, we need to review our anti-terrorism laws as a matter of urgency.
The Home Secretary ought to be able to prevent individuals entering Britain and to deport them on the grounds of national security without the threat of his decisions being overturned as a result of the Human Rights Act 1998. The Government must not let the Act stand in the way of extradition to the United States of individuals facing terrorism charges. That would be the wrong route. Where the law is ineffective or inadequate, it needs to be remedied and I agree with the Prime Minister. I repeat our offer that the Opposition will co-operate with the Government in any way possible to ensure that that can be done.
The Prime Minister said in his speech to the conference on Tuesday that the structures of terrorism should be attacked everywhere. Does he agree that this means not just waging war in a distant land but that, as he has said before, it applies as much here in the United Kingdom as it does in Afghanistan and Colombia?
As I have pointed out before, terrorist groups, including the IRA, the UDA, the UVF and others, raise the vast majority of their finance through criminal activity such as intimidation, racketeering, smuggling and—worst of all perhaps—drugs. What plans does the Prime Minister have to wage war on the Mafia sub-culture and criminality that have grown up alongside 30 years of terrorism in Northern Ireland and to ensure that the rule of law is upheld?
At the weekend, the Sinn Fein president described terrorism as "ethically unjustifiable", yet words alone will not be enough. The people of Northern Ireland require deeds. Surely in the aftermath of 11 September, people everywhere will fail to understand why terrorists even in Northern Ireland do not demonstrate once and for all that violence is in the past and that they are now unequivocally committed to peaceful and democratic politics. I hope and believe that the Prime Minister will use this opportunity to place maximum pressure on those on both sides of the fence to stand by their agreements and to decommission their weapons as agreed.
Finally, we believe that the Prime Minister was right to recall Parliament today. It is important, given the gravity of the situation and the likelihood of British involvement in any future action, that we keep the situation under short-term review. Yesterday the Home Secretary made a number of important announcements to the conference regarding the domestic response to the terrorist threat. Surely, given the importance of that speech yesterday, there is now a strong case for the House to be recalled again—perhaps on Thursday and Friday of next week—so that that some of those measures can be debated and discussed.
This is not about revenge and it is not about retribution, and it is not only about justice against one man; it is about standing up for what is right against what is wrong. It is about upholding civilised values against anarchy and it is about defending good against the evil of terrorism. So today we should reaffirm our single and collective purpose in this House. No excuses can be made, no justification sought and no help offered to those who would carry out such deeds. Simply put, let right be done.
The Prime Minister: First, I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support for the action that the Government are undertaking and also for his words about bin Laden and the hon. Gentleman's conviction that bin Laden is, indeed, guilty.
In respect of our armed forces, as I said a couple of days ago, one of the greatest blessings that any British Prime Minister has is the strength, determination and commitment of our armed forces.
In respect of the coalition, I read in parts of the media that the coalition is under threat but I have not noticed that at all in the discussions that I have had. I believe that those people who are part of the broad coalition of support for the action that we are undertaking know perfectly well that it includes military action. Indeed, not merely has that been made clear by, for example, the French President, but it was made very clear by the German Chancellor who himself is prepared to commit German military support for the action that we are undertaking. In Japan, the Japanese Prime Minister, in what was a bold and courageous move given Japan's history, committed self-defence forces as part of the logistical and support effort for any action.
I think that there is a very clear understanding right around the world that, in the face of what we are dealing with, there is no alternative unless the Taliban regime do what they have so far obviously failed to do and yield up bin Laden. If they fail to do that, there really is no alternative to taking action. Otherwise we will simply allow that terrorist network to remain, and we know that it will carry on committing acts of terrorism if it is able to do so. That is well understood.
One of the benefits of the way in which the United States Administration and President Bush have handled this issue over the past few weeks results precisely from the fact that they have not acted precipitately but have taken time to reflect and consider. Had there been a different way forward, it would have come through in these past few weeks—it has not. Therefore, I think that there is possibly a firmer and clearer understanding today among people who analyse the situation reasonably and sensibly that we have to take action.
In respect of Iraq, of course it is important that we act on the basis of evidence, but I point out that the no-fly zones are still in operation in respect of Iraq and that Britain, with the United States, takes action in policing them.
In respect of Britain being a target, I agree very strongly with the hon. Gentleman. Britain is in any event a target, as indeed are any of the main western countries—not simply Britain. Britain is known obviously as a very close ally of the United States of America, but acts of terrorism have taken place or have been thwarted in many of the major European countries. The situation is quite clear.
One of the things that will emerge from the document that we shall place in the Library of the House of Commons—to be fair, this is obviously known by the people who have studied such matters—is that we are dealing with an individual and an organisation that, as a matter of their strong belief and conviction, think it is right that they kill not just American civilians but other civilians around the world who have any connection with the west and western values. Indeed, they are prepared to commit acts of terrorism not merely against western countries but against people in Muslim countries as well. When people read the statements that have been made by bin Laden, they can see that there really is no alternative and that no common agenda can be established with such people.
I agree with the hon. Gentleman that it is important that the money that is allocated in respect of aid should be used properly to meet international standards. One of the things that we have been trying to do over the past couple of weeks is establish with the United Nations a sufficiently solid organisational capability so that the money is allocated properly. That is why I was grateful to Kofi Annan for appointing Mr. Brahimi to co-ordinate the efforts. They have to be co-ordinated properly out there on the ground, both inside Afghanistan and in neighbouring countries. That will involve a very big effort indeed.
The small but significant number of groups that are here and that abuse our freedom are precisely the reason why we need to legislate. I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support—in principle at any rate—for such legislation, subject obviously to discussion of the details. It is important that we try to discuss within the main political parties how we can take forward these measures because the quicker they are done, the better they are done and the greater the consent for them, the better the legislation will be.
As we have tried to do in respect of the military action, we are very happy to make sure that there is proper consultation with all the main political parties on the measures that we propose. The Terrorism Act 2000 strengthened our law somewhat and did have an impact, but we recognise now that the law needs to be taken further.
Of course I agree with the hon. Gentleman about those terrorist groups that are still operating inside the United Kingdom. It is difficult to make further progress in the peace process until it is absolutely clear that those who want to play a major part in the government of Northern Ireland for the future have unequivocally given up violence for good. That is precisely the reason for the impasse. I believe, however, that it is also important that
we maintain the peace process if at all possible. One of the lessons from the past few weeks is that, where we have a process in place, let us continue it. However, it has obviously got to be based on the principles that were set out in the agreement.I again thank the hon. Gentleman for his support. We are now approaching the difficult time when action is taken. It will be difficult; there are no easy options in this situation. However, I hope and believe that there is a far clearer understanding today that, if we take the right military action, combine it with the right humanitarian assistance and build the right political and diplomatic coalition, we have not merely the best chance of succeeding but the best chance in succeeding of winning the greatest degree possible of support right across the world for what we have done.
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