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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

I do not accept that interpretation. Paragraph 6.22 of the Patten report, although it did not go into as much detail as the Bill, made it clear that"““the Chief Constable remains fully accountable for the involvement of police in matters involving national security, even though his or her main accountability in such matters is to the Secretary of State rather than to the Policing Board.””" There will therefore continue to be a direct line of accountability by the police for whatever they do, including about matters of national security, ultimately to the Policing Board and through the devolved Ministers. I understand the concerns of the Social Democratic and Labour party about the matter, given its wider long-term political objectives. However, I hope that the hon. Gentleman will understand that there is no way that the Security Service could continue to do the important job that it has done for a long time, especially now and in the foreseeable future, without the changes being put in place and consistency with the rest of the United Kingdom. I believe that the result will be to strengthen the overall imposition of security and policing in Northern Ireland rather than to undermine it. If there were any danger of undermining it, the Chief Constable would have been the first to warn against that. He most emphatically has not done so—indeed, he supported the changes. Several provisions deal with the democratic process. There are concerns about taking a power to bring forward the May 2007 election, but I need to be ready to move quickly if the circumstances are such that an early election is needed to cement success on the political front. That is necessary so that we do not face any obstacle.