Commons shocked

Press, 14 July 1982, Page 8

Commons shocked

NZPA London The British Home Secretary (Mr William Whitelaw) yesterday confirmed to an indignant House of Commons that a man had managed to break into Buckingham Palace and enter the Queen’s bedroom. He told shocked members that the incident on Friday was a "most serious failure in security arrangements.” Sir William Clark, a member of the governing Conservatiye Party, said: “If this

had been a determined terrorist, the results could have been catastrophic.” Mr Whitelaw, whose responsibilities include the protection of the Royal Family, said there had been technical and human errors and the police were urgently investigating the security breach. Extra security measures had been introduced at Buckingham Palace in recent years, he said. “But this latest incident shows that the position is

still not satisfactory and that more needs to be done.” Members of the Opposition Labour Party laughed at this and a former Social Services Secretary, David Ennals, called it “the understatement of the year." Labour's Home Affairs spokesman, Roy Hattersley, then asked Mr Whitelaw: “You said security had been recently improved. Since that resulted in a man getting into the Queen's bedroom, how bad was it before the improvement?"