Former British cabinet minister Lord Tebbit has told the UK government to concentrate on dealing more effectively with domestic problems and stop "going on about" issues in foreign countries outside of its control.At question time in the House of Lords, Tory Lord Tebbit criticised peers for discussing what action could be taken to force an inquiry into atrocities committed at the end of Sri Lanka's civil war in 2009.
The topic had been raised by Labour's Lord Kennedy of Southwark.
Lord Tebbit pointed out that "the government has no jurisdiction over Sri Lanka".
He added: "There are many awful things happening all over the world.
"It might be more appropriate if the government dealt more effectively with those things which are going wrong within its jurisdiction rather than to go on endlessly, as other noble lords do too, about matters which are outside the government's jurisdiction."
Foreign Office Minister Lord Howell replied that he could see the "theoretical and perfect logic" of Lord Tebbit's argument.
But he said: "The facts are there are large populations in London and in this country who are intimately politically concerned about this issue and if it goes badly wrong it affects us all in our domestic arrangements as well."
He continued: "If that wonderful country of Sri Lanka continues to be deeply divided and is not able to heal the wounds of the past that will affect us directly and our interests in a very precise way regardless of whether we are juridically in charge or not."
Sri Lanka's civil war ended in 2009, as the Colombo government claimed victory over Tamil Tiger insurgents after a bloody military operation which killed thousands of people and displaced many more.
A panel of experts convened by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reported earlier this year that it had found "credible allegations" of war crimes on both sides. He said that a civilian death toll of 40,000 or more could not be ruled out.
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