Northern Ireland (Compton Committee's Report)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 17 November 1971.

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Photo of Lord  Balniel Lord Balniel , Hertford 12:00, 17 November 1971

If we are to end the bloodshed, if we are to save the lives of civilians and of police and troops, if we are to end this odious campaign of murder and violence which has caused the death of so many innocent civilians, we must have good intelligence. Polite and leisurely questioning of suspected terrorists will not provide this information.

I should like to try very briefly to answer the point made by the right hon. Member for Cardiff, South-East (Mr. Callaghan). The formal authorisation to remove certain detainees to the interrogation centre was necessarily given by the Northern Ireland Minister for Home Affairs, with the knowledge and concurrence of Her Majesty's Government. Ministers knew that the interrogation would be conducted within the guidelines laid down in 1965 and 1967 and that the methods would be the same as have been used on numerous occasions in the past. Their detailed application was necessarily a matter for the judgment of those immediately responsible.