---

Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

You would probably rebuke me, Madam Deputy Speaker, if I went off on a long excursion into Wales. However, I take the point, made with knowledge and feeling, by the hon. Gentleman, who speaks for his party on Northern Ireland and Wales. On devolution, which is central to all our concerns, I was impressed by the speech made by my hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Lidington), the shadow Secretary of State. He spoke powerfully of the need to have an Assembly—[Interruption.] It would be good to have an audience here, too. He talked—[Interruption.] Hon. Members should not say those things. I did not call myself to speak; I was called by the occupant of the Chair, as other hon. Members may or may not be. It is important that we all recognise that and listen to each other accordingly in this place. Let me go back to the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury, who speaks from the Front Bench and who made some powerful observations about policing. I am strongly opposed to devolving power over policing to any Executive who have Ministers from a party that refuses to take any part in the Policing Board. If we move towards devolution and a power-sharing Executive, and if we have a Deputy First Minister from Sinn Fein—as the arithmetic suggests that we might—it would be preposterous to give devolved powers for policing to an Executive that included Sinn Fein, if Sinn Fein were boycotting the Policing Board and playing no part in returning Northern Ireland to the normality to which we aspire. It is incumbent on Sinn Fein to pause for a moment. If it is really anxious to have devolution and to play a part as a constructive democratic force, it must do two things. First, it must totally repudiate any connection with organised crime and urge any of its number still involved with organised crime to disgorge their gains. The same goes for the so-called loyalist paramilitaries—I hate to use that term in this context—although they do not have the political muscle that Sinn Fein has. Secondly, Sinn Fein must co-operate with the Assets Recovery Agency and with the police, and play its proper part in making Northern Ireland a law-abiding community again. If Sinn Fein did all that and, having done so, played a part in the Policing Board, it would not be giving up its nationalist aspirations or its desire for a united Ireland. If, some day, the people of Northern Ireland vote for a united Ireland, so be it. I would not do so because I do not want that. I am a Unionist and I support Unionism. However, I wholly honour the way in which the hon. Members for Belfast, South (Dr. McDonnell), for Foyle and for South Down approach their parliamentary duties and advance legitimately their proper cause. Their party has joined the Policing Board and striven to bring a degree of normality to Northern Ireland. If Sinn Fein would do the same, it would not be necessary for the hon. Member for South Down to make the kind of chilling speech that he made, with his customary charm and great moderation, a few minutes ago. As long as it is possible for such chilling speeches to be repeated and echoed, we shall remain a long way from the state that we wish to be in. I say to the Minister that I hope that the Government, in their legitimate desire to see devolution restored, will not treat with any degree of preference, or perceived preference, a party that does not play by the democratic rules. I hope that they will not seek to rush things, or to impose or over-use the powers of Orders in Council. I hope, above all, that they will not seek, arbitrarily and against the wishes of those who have been democratically elected and who play by the democratic rules, to force a date for an election, as that would be perceived as yet another concession to those who are not prepared to come in. Those who are not prepared to come in are not here in the Chamber, but I wish that they were. They will be able to read the report of this debate, and I hope that they will do so. I say to them that the door is open for them to come in. If they want a truly peaceful Northern Ireland for their sons, daughters and grandchildren to grow up in, they must take away the system that obliged the hon. Member for South Down to make the speech that he did this afternoon, and they can do that.