PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
Mr. Geoffrey Dear (29 April 1990)

That this House notes the recent statement by the outgoing Chief Constable of the West Midlands Police, Mr Geoffrey Dear, that 'there is no doubt that the IRA are working with the campaigners' for the six men convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings; draws Mr Dear's attention to the fact that in 1985 the Home Office forensic scientist Dr Frank Skuse, who was the principal witness at the trial of the six, was required to resign for 'limited efficiency' and that most of his evidence in the Birmingham bombings case was set aside by the Lord Chief Justice in 1988; reminds Mr Dear that he himself wound up the West Midlands Serious Crimes squad after police officers had been caught fabricating confessions - the central issue in the pub bombings trial; further reminds Mr Dear that the convictions of the Guildford Four were quashed by the Lord Chief Justice on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions after their confessions were found to have been fabricated; invites Mr Dear to agree that these are the developments which have undermined public confidence in the safety of the Birmingham pub bombings convictions; further invites Mr Dear to say which of these developments he believes to have been influenced by the IRA; and finally, invites Mr Dear to agree that nothing so much assists the IRA as the now widely held perception that the British state is prepared to tolerate the conviction of innocent men for terrorist offences rather than admit to a mistake.

Sponsored by:
Mr Chris Mullin (Labour)