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Northern Ireland: Massereene Army Base

My Lords, your Lordships will, I hope, have noticed the many supportive comments which have come in the past day or so from the United States Congress. Can my noble friend assure us that the people who made those comments will receive the gratitude in writing of her Majesty’s Government for taking the position that they have? The only other small point I make is that I am always distressed when I see that the media use the expression that people claimed responsibility for a disgusting act. In my language, you claim responsibility for something that is creditworthy and you admit responsibility for something that is disgusting. I hope that our Government will, in future, use that sort of language. There was a slip in the Statement that my noble friend made. Also—and I hesitate to take issue with my long-time friend, the noble Lord, Lord Maginnis—these were not executions, they were murders.