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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

As I say, Sir Alan, I find myself in an unusual position. It is not one in which I have found myself on the number of Bills that I have taken through the House as a Minister in different Departments. It is a strange place to find myself, but I hope that I can offer the Committee an explanation of the reasons for that. The Committee will be aware that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has tabled amendments to delete clauses 10 to 12, and consequential amendments to clause 31 and schedule 5 have also been tabled by the Government and will be considered later in the proceedings. It might be helpful, as I have said, if I set out the reasons why clauses 10 to 12 were included in the Bill on its introduction. They were included because my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State considered it possible that an early election might help to facilitate a return to devolution in Northern Ireland. Obviously, the Government are very concerned to ensure that the Assembly returns to its rightful place as soon as possible, and we have considered different methods on a number of occasions to ensure that the Assembly is up and running in due course. On Second Reading, my right hon. Friend said that there was no specific intention to use the powers in the Bill, but simply a desire to have the power to introduce an early election provision if it became apparent that that was necessary. However, the Committee will be aware that, during the recess, post the debate on Second Reading, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach of the Irish Republic met in Armagh on 6 April—my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I were also present on that occasion—to announce a possible new way forward to help facilitate the return of devolution. That matter has been well advertised. Indeed, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State made a statement yesterday, to outline formally to the House the issues and ideas proposed on 6 April in respect of the potential for the return of devolution to Northern Ireland. Right hon. and hon. Members will understand that we have not yet published the new Bill that will give effect to the proposals outlined by the Taoiseach and my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State and that the details will not be made available until the Bill is formally introduced shortly. However, in the light of the arrangements proposed by my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State about the recall of the Assembly on 15 May and the potential end date for that recall towards the end of November—from memory, I think that it is 24 November—the procedural arrangements for calling an early election will not now be necessary. Therefore, I am happy that clauses 10 to 12 are no longer required. We want to delete them in due course, because we do not believe that they are necessary, given the new political framework proposed by my right hon. Friends. I also very much hope that the Assembly will return and that a new election, as originally envisaged when the Bill was introduced, will not now be needed, because there is a clearly identified framework.