Sri Harmandir Sahib

Mike Gapes Excerpts

Tuesday 4th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I think I can be reassuring on that point. The advice was that military solutions—I think British military advisers would give this advice anywhere in the world—are only for when all negotiations have failed. It also referred specifically to the importance of speed and surprise, and to the use of helicopter-borne troops to achieve that and minimise casualties. That would not be consistent with the use of artillery, with all the consequent collateral damage and destruction caused by the use of heavy weapons.

[Mike Gapes (Ilford South) (Lab/Co-op)]

Those of us who have had the honour to visit the Golden Temple know that it is a place of peace and tranquillity, and that its symbolism is very significant. When the Prime Minister went to India, he visited Amritsar. He also went to Jallianwala Bagh and signed a message of condolence relating to an atrocity carried out by the British military in 1919. Would it not be appropriate for us to say something about apologising for the fact that there was minor, limited complicity in giving military advice to the Indian authorities, because otherwise it will be misinterpreted? The Prime Minister did the right thing when he went to India. Can we do something now for the Sikh community?

[Mr Hague]

As the hon. Gentleman says, the Prime Minister did the right thing in making that statement on other tragic events near Amritsar decades before and in expressing this country’s regret for that. That was absolutely the right thing and I think across the whole House we support that. He did that because of Britain’s responsibility for those events. Apologies go with responsibility and imply a responsibility. As I said earlier, if any of us thought that any British assistance had contributed to unnecessary loss of life and to suffering in this case, or in any other case, we would all want to say that that was a mistake and for the country to make an apology. But that is not what is established by the Cabinet Secretary’s report. The picture is very different from that, and we all have to base our opinions, in the end, on the facts.