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Northern Ireland: Massereene Army Base

My Lords, I join the noble Baroness the Lord President and other noble Lords in sending our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of Sapper Patrick Azimkar and Sapper Mark Quinsey, and to those injured in this most cowardly of attacks. The murdered men were about to travel to Afghanistan to serve their country and to support the Afghan people. The awful events of the weekend remind us, once again, of the bravery of all those who serve in the Armed Forces, the PSNI and the security services. We also thank the emergency services and medical staff; we are, indeed, all indebted to them. The Independent Monitoring Commission review confirmed our concerns about the dissident threat. We have raised those concerns here and in another place. The attack follows a succession of near misses on police. The chief constable of the PSNI has been consistent and increasingly public about the threat posed by dissident republican groups. That must tell us how seriously he viewed the severity of the situation. I confirm our firm support for the operational independence of the chief constable. Like every other chief constable in the United Kingdom, he must have the right to enlist the help of specialists. Can the noble Baroness confirm that the decision of the chief constable to call in reconnaissance experts would not have been affected had criminal justice and policing been devolved? The aim of these attacks is to try to disrupt normal policing, forcing police into barracks and armoured vehicles away from the public. We must not allow that objective to succeed but, rather, we must ensure that a balance be struck between the need to increase protection for officers and to ensure that the police are visible and known to their communities. The Government raised the threat level from substantial to severe last week. Was that change due to specific intelligence received or a response to the general security situation? Were civilian guards briefed on the current threat level and individual establishments chased up to ensure that it was understood and that appropriate measures had been taken to account for it? Given the understandable and desirable pursuit of normalisation, which we on these Benches strongly support, will the Government conduct an immediate review of the security arrangements at police stations and military installations? Lastly, in this context, what are the implications for defence installations in the rest of the United Kingdom? The attackers showed a chilling ruthlessness in shooting their victims a second time, on the ground. Do the Government not agree that such cold brutality suggests that these were experienced terrorists? The crime scene will reveal valuable ballistic and forensic evidence. The experience from previous investigations shows that speed is of the essence. Will the noble Baroness confirm that these murders will receive top priority and that the most competent and experienced officers will be in charge of the investigation? I confirm that the position of the Official Opposition is to support the Government’s efforts to bring these criminals to justice. We believe that they have no support in the wider community. The support for the police investigation from all political parties is welcome. The key to defeating terrorism in Northern Ireland lies with all parts of the community. I endorse the Secretary of State’s appeal yesterday for anyone with information on these criminal acts to come forward; even the smallest piece of information could be vital and might help to bring this investigation to a swift conclusion. Thanks to the peace process, which was begun by the previous Government and continued by this one, Northern Ireland has been transformed. An unrepresentative minority of dissidents are determined to undo the good work of the past 15 years. It is incumbent on us all to respond to this shocking attack by going about our business normally, but with increased vigilance; the good work of recent years must continue. Terrorism in any form must never succeed.