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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

Again, I am trying to offer some form of clarity to the House on behalf of the Government. We want to see the Assembly restored. We are happy to look at any method that will get the Assembly restored, because the rightful people to run the affairs of Northern Ireland are the people who were elected to that Assembly to do so; not me, who represents a seat in north Wales and who flies in and does a job on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland at that time, but ultimately flies out again. The people who are elected and have roots in that community should do that job. As I hope the hon. Member for Foyle recognises, we are looking at the best way to unlock the real gridlock problems that exist between political parties in restoring the Assembly. I am happy to look at any suggestions that will unlock that gridlock. There was a possibility of political talks, but they have proved difficult, for reasons that I fully understand with regard to confidence on the part of several parties in the current situation. In the absence of those talks, we have put a framework in place whereby we hope those issues can be resolved during the time scale of May to November. In the light of that time scale being put in place, the clauses are redundant. That is the simple fact of the matter. If people want to call that a U-turn or a change of Bill, that is fine. I am very unused to withdrawing clauses in a Bill that I supported only six or seven weeks ago in this Chamber on Second Reading, but that is the nature of Northern Ireland politics. Our overriding objective is the same: to restore the Assembly. That is why I commend the withdrawal of these clauses. The Government are looking at a different way of achieving the same objective to make sure that colleagues are back in government as soon as possible.