Parliament: Waging War (Constitution Committee Report)

My Lords, with respect, the Suez example completely demonstrates the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Norton. It is, I think, widely accepted now that the Government of the day—I do not make a political point here—very actively misled the country and Parliament about what was happening. There was widespread parliamentary support for the Suez intervention at the time on the basis of what Mr Anthony Eden said, which was misleading, to Parliament. The convention that is argued for would have had no impact whatever, and it is extremely important that one focuses on that. It is extremely important that responsibility is identified where it lies, and it is extremely important that parliamentary involvement is increased as much as possible, but not by this convention. I say with respect that the question to ask is the one that the noble Lord, Lord Norton of Louth, was asking:how does one, without compromising operational efficiency and without leading to undue inflexibility, ensure that Parliament is properly informed, bearing in mind that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer are plainly right when they say that it would almost invariably be the norm that Parliament will be told and that, if there is any question about it, as there was in relation to Iraq, there would be both a prolonged debate and a vote? I say with the greatest of respect to the committee that a convention is the wrong way in which to approach the problem. It leads to difficulties. In no way do I dispute—indeed I warmly endorse—what the Chancellor and the Prime Minister have said, but they are saying something different from the committee. They are not suggesting that there should be a rigid committee. So while I do not say that all things are fine, I do say that the proposal the committee has come up with is not the right one. To that end I was hugely impressed by the speech of the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig, and with that of the noble Lord, Lord Norton of Louth, although he was supportive of the proposals put forward bythe noble Lord, Lord Luce. All those contributions contained powerful arguments against the proposition. Perhaps I may go through briefly the contributions made to this high quality debate. The noble Lord, Lord Holme, put the argument to the House. I hope that in what I have said, I have responded directly to his points—but not, I hope, as the noble Lord, Lord Smith, suggested, in an obfuscatory way. I have dealt with the specific comments of my right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. My noble friend Lord Judd made the important point that we should make sure that all we do is consistent withthe view of the United Nations Charter of the circumstances in which one should go to war. I completely agree with that, although I disagree with my noble friend on adopting the convention for the reasons I have given. The noble Baroness, Lady O’Cathain, described it as ““arrogant”” to say that one of the key responsibilities of government is the decision whether or not to go to war. Whether it is a good thing or a bad thing, I do not think there is any dispute that that is one of the responsibilities of the Executive, and I certainly regard it as one of the most important. The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, my noble friend Lord Judd, and the noble Lords, Lord Maclennan and Lord Lester, all support something beyond the proposals made by the committee, and that is legislation. I strongly support the view of the noble Viscount, Lord Bledisloe, that the idea of the courts being involved in the question of whether or not the process had been gone through properly feels wholly inappropriate. The noble Lord, Lord Lester, argued that if one goes to war without going through the process, what is wrong with judicial review proceedings? One can only begin to imagine the consequences of that. So I strongly support the committee’s assertion that there should not be legislation for all the reasons it has set out. The noble and gallant Lord, Lord Bramall, is at odds in a friendly way with those with military experience who I referred to earlier in my speech. Itis a matter for the House to decide whose material they found more convincing about the need for a convention.