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Business of the House

Yesterday in the House, the Prime Minister urged us to support legislation on the basis that it was supported by the public at large and by the police, yet on the very same day the Government brought forward legislation to give an amnesty to terrorists on the run, which is opposed by the public and the police. Does not that send a signal that far from being tough on terror, as the Government like to pretend, they are actually in the business of abjectly appeasing terrorists in Northern Ireland, and that there are good terrorists and bad terrorists? Is not it clear that the proposal is outside the terms of even the Belfast agreement? The Government should not pretend that the legislation extends the rolling out of the agreement—a point made by the hon. Member for Foyle (Mark Durkan) and other members of the Social Democratic and Labour party who supported the agreement.