Phil Roman (ITN)
Prime Minister, how do you think the Customs are coping with the drug problem?
Prime Minister
I think the Customs are doing a superb job. I have been round. It is the busiest time for the Airport, in the early hours of the day, when the big jumbos come in. I have been round seeing the work they are doing, seeing their astute observation, because I gather they get most of it, not by tip-offs but just by experience of where the stuff is likely to be hidden, and observing and then looking and finding; and I think they are a very fine body of people doing a superb job and I hope people will really feel that Customs Officers are very friendly and doing a wonderful job for Britain.
Phil Roman (ITN)
Some Officers seem to think they are being hampered in their fight by lack of resources. [end p1]
Prime Minister
Well, if that is so, then we must put that right. This is such an important fight. They must not be hampered by lack of equipment or by numbers of people.
Phil Roman (ITN)
Is the Government doing enough, do you think?
Prime Minister
I hope so, but if we are not, then we have to do more; but this so important; this is really where we catch it coming in.
You either catch it going out of another country—and we have also to take action on that front and are—or we have to try to catch it coming in. Now, one learns all the ruses and devices that people use to try to prevent themselves from being caught, but this is such an important thing and so important for the protection of our young people and for everyone, that it must not be hampered for lack of resources. We have never never skimped in any way on the resources for law and order, and this of course is a very big part of it; indeed, as I was saying this morning, some of the sums involved in some of these things make bank robberies look comparatively small. We shall have to fight bank robberies as well and every sort of crime, but drugs gets tied up with every kind of crime and I think every single person in the country will be with me except those drug pushers when I say that this must have enough resources to beat it. [end p2]
Phil Roman (ITN)
Lord LaneThe Lord Chief Justice recently said enough was not being done to fight drugs.
Prime Minister
Well, anything more that we can do will be done, and must be done.
Phil Roman (ITN)
In many parts of America and Europe, police believe the fight against drugs is already lost. Is that not the case in Britain?
Prime Minister
No, it is not, and you must never say that. You are undermining the people who are involved in this fight; you are undermining their work; you are undermining their morale by saying that. It is not lost. Just look at the amount which is being hauled here. We do not know the amount that gets through, but I do know the acute observation and very close watch that those Customs Officers and the Police are keeping. It is not lost. Our point and our purpose is to see that the battle is won.
Diana Goodman (BBC)
Mrs. Thatcher, are you saying you are actually going to devote more money to this fight? [end p3]
Prime Minister
No. What I am saying is that if the fight is being hampered by lack of money, never never have you ever heard me say that we must economise on law and order. One of the things we have done is more people fighting crime, more equipment, more everything. If need be, that will be done.
Diana Goodman
So if there is a lack of resources, you will find the money?
Prime Minister
Indeed! The tax-payer will find the money. We might have to switch from something else, but we will find the money. We will find the money. The tax-payer would wish it.
Diana Goodman
Is that as a result of what you have seen today?
Prime Minister
No. We have been on to this for some considerable time. We heard of the increase in cocaine that was being found in the Caribbean in transit. We have been consulting for some considerable time with other countries and you know, it is alleged that the amount of drugs going into the United States now and the use is stable, and it is alleged that the increasing amounts are likely to come across to Europe, and the whole of Europe is now alert and we have been on to this for some time; that is why we put more Customs Officers on, more resources, more into making films so that young people can be warned, more pamphlets into helping teachers and parents to [end p4] understand what to look for. So, no, we have been on to this for some considerable time.
Diana Goodman
Do you really believe that you can beat the drug smugglers.
Prime Minister
We have to! We have to! It can undermine a whole generation. It can corrupt everything. We have to, and that is why we shall bring in a new law this coming session of Parliament so that their possessions can be confiscated insofar as they were derived from drug smuggling, because what has been happening is they might have had quite severe sentences, but their possessions have still been intact. We must get at those now.
Diana Goodman
Do you believe that a generation is being undermined at present?
Prime Minister
No, I do not think that we have got to that stage in this country, and I think that we are taking every possible action to see that we do not get to it by warning young people, by the judges giving heavy sentences on people who are found pushing drugs, and by putting more into Customs, more into police, more into equipment, more into every possible thing. [end p5]
Diana Goodman
Do you believe, after your visit here today, that your attitude has changed to the whole situation?
Prime Minister
My admiration for the Customs Officers has been heightened this morning. They are the people right in the front line, who have the first opportunity to spot the things coming in and they are doing a magnificent job, and if they want more resources, they will have to have them.
Anit Roy ( “Daily Mail” )
Prime Minister, do you have any sympathy for the Government of Malaysia which has a mandatory death sentence for drug dealers and has just passed the death sentence on a Briton who is going to appeal to you?
Prime Minister
There is no point in appealing to us. All over Malaysia, you will find posters saying “The penalty for dealing in drugs is death!” You will find it on almost every hoarding. They know full well. They do not hesitate to peddle drugs which can lead to the deaths of others. Malaysia has taken the view that the penalty for dealing in drugs is death and she has carried out several death sentences. That is her law and people are abundantly warned. [end p6]
Diana Goodman (BBC)
Mrs. Thatcher, just one question. What is your message to the drug smugglers?
Prime Minister
We are after you! The pursuit will be relentless. Relentless! The effort will get greater and greater, until we have beaten you! The penalty will be long prison sentences; the penalty will be confiscation of everything you have ever got from drug smuggling! So stop it! We shall make your life not worth living!