Parliament: Waging War (Constitution Committee Report)

My Lords, I, too, had the privilege of serving on the committee and I join my noble friend Lady O’Cathain in paying a warm tribute to our chairman, the noble Lord, Lord Holme of Cheltenham, who led us through an extremely complicated series of shoals, dealt with an enormous number of expert witnesses and documents, and steered us to conclusions that have been warmly welcomed on almost all sides of the House. I entered into the committee’s proceedings on this investigation complacent in the belief that, in the Government’s words, "““adequate mechanisms for intense parliamentary scrutiny of executive action are already in place””." Throughout our history, there have always been questions, debates, Select Committees and so on during, and usually before, times of conflict. I was also concerned by the practical difficulties of seeking parliamentary sanction for action during times of emergency, when use of the strategic deterrent might have been contemplated, when reconnaissance and covert operations were considered—as in Sierra Leone—and because of the difficulties inherent in giving the enemy a potentially lethal advantage over our service people by signalling specific military intentions in advance. Such problems were described by the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Boyce, and other witnesses. Those concerns remain and any future convention agreed to by the Government and Parliament must take them into account. The committee’s arguments for parliamentary involvement have been eloquently rehearsed, notably by the noble Lord, Lord Holme, as well as by my noble friend Lady O’Cathain, the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Bramall, my noble and learned friend Lord Mayhew and others—I shall not repeat themall. The recommendations in paragraph 110 that parliamentary approval for military action should be preceded by the laying of a resolution, including objectives, the legal basis of the action and its likely duration and scale—retrospectively, if necessary—should not be too controversial in principle. In fact, they were, in effect, endorsed by Jack Straw, the Leader of the other place. The fourth recommendation in paragraph 110, that the Government should as a matter of course keep Parliament informed of the progress of such deployments and, if their nature or objectives alter significantly, should seek a renewal of the approval, is more difficult. Arguably in Iraq, and certainly in Afghanistan, we have seen what is known as ““mission creep””. In Helmand in Afghanistan, we are approaching the nature of an army of occupation, and Parliament has not reacted in the Division Lobbies. During that time, the attitudes of our allies have also changed substantially and they are, as we see in the United States and NATO, continuing to change. So is the onus on Parliament—by which, in effect, we mean the opposition parties—to exercise scrutiny and activate such scrutiny, or should the onus be on the Government, who control the parliamentary timetable, to make the necessary arrangements? I believe that we must seek consensus on this and similar points. I agree with other members of the committee that Parliament should mean both Houses of Parliament, but I strongly believe that primacy should remain with the Commons, even, or perhaps particularly, if there is an elected element in your Lordships’ House in the future. The likelihood of the two Houses voting in opposite directions is sufficiently high for it to be necessary beyond peradventure to be understood that the primacy is in the House of Commons. There is, I believe, a growing consensus behind the proposals in the Select Committee report, as evidenced by our deliberations today. I, in common with other members of the Select Committee, saw more dangers in legislation than advantages, andI believe that a convention is more consistentwith the practicalities of the way in which werun our constitution than the statutory authority recommended by the noble Lord, Lord Lester. As has been noted, in January last year Gordon Brown said that, "““a case now exists for a further restriction of executive power and a detailed consideration of the role of Parliament in the declaration of peace and war””." David Cameron has also stated that, "““the time has come to look at those powers exercised by Ministers””," under the royal prerogative. He said: "““Giving Parliament a greater role in the exercise of these powers would be an important and tangible way of making Government more accountable””." Jack Straw, the Leader of the other place, said, "““the parliamentary votes on military action against Iraq not only showed Parliament at its best, but also set a clear precedent for the future””." The vote on Iraq was indeed a precedent, but the scope of that precedent is far from wholly clear. There have been votes on many occasions in the past. As the Government’s response to the committee report says, Parliament has at its disposal a range of methods of scrutinising the Government—questions, debates, Motions, votes and so on. There is a natural tendency by all parliamentarians not to wish to rock the boat when British service people are in action. No one wishes to damage morale or give comfort to the enemy by exposing divisions at home. I therefore think that it is incumbent on the Government to take the initiative in organising what I would describe as ““reviewing”” debates, rather than leave it to the Opposition. In my view, there is now a widespread wish to establish a convention or, if a convention already exists, as is inherent in what Jack Straw said, to agree its scope. My noble friend Lord Norton said that you cannot establish a convention; it has to grow organically. I agree with that but, if a convention is half-formed, there comes a time when it has to be codified by agreement among all those concerned. That codification must meet the aspirations and responsibilities of Parliament in a way that does not prejudice national security or put our service people at any greater risk. The Government have expressed their intention to keep the matter under review. Perhaps the time has now come—there is no ideal time and I suppose that we are likely to be engaged in conflicts for a very long time to come—for a committee similar to that which sat under the chairmanship of the noble Lord, Lord Cunningham, on the conventions governing your Lordships’ House and the other place, to chart a way forward in this area, taking into account the considerations rehearsed in the committee’s report and those emphasised by your Lordships today from all sides of the House.