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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

Others have also tried comparing Northern Ireland to South Africa, but it is not very helpful because such comparisons are not at all accurate. We are talking about people associated with a terrorist organisation that is illegal under the law—people whom the Dublin Government indicated they would not have in their Cabinet in any capacity, let alone in policing and justice capacities. The International Monitoring Commission report pointed out that such organisations are still actively involved in intelligence gathering and criminality. Surely the hon. Gentleman is not seriously suggesting that the people of Northern Ireland would accept for one minute that such organisations should have some involvement in the administration of policing and justice. The hon. Member for Blaydon said that he regretted the fact that his constituents rejected devolution. One reason that he ventured for such rejection was that insufficient powers were offered, and that, had they been offered the same powers locally that we in Northern Ireland are being offered, they might have grabbed the opportunity. Well, if his constituents had been offered the prospect of gangsters connected with the Mafia and other criminals running the local police force, they might have been even more opposed to devolution than they were when they rejected it.