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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

I will keep my remarks brief—[Interruption.] With provocation from the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr. Campbell), I might not keep my remarks so brief. I was disappointed that the Minister did not respond to an intervention in which I asked him about the response from not only the chief electoral officer, but the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, about the canvass proposed in clause 3. I am extremely worried that the Government and, in particular, the Northern Ireland Office, think that the election date for the 108-Member Assembly is somehow a movable feast. In the past, the Northern Ireland Office has changed the date of the election not just once but twice, and now, in a matter of weeks, it has changed its decision on a measure that was considered to be critical when the Bill received its Second Reading. On 13 March, on Second Reading, the Secretary of State accepted that there would be complaints about changing the date of the election. He said to the House: "““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.””—[Official Report, 13 March 2006; Vol. 443, c. 1172.]" Is the Minister ensuring that clauses 10 to 12 are taken out of the Bill because the Government are preparing for failure, rather than success? [Interruption.] The Minister seems to be rather agitated. Just a few weeks ago, the Secretary of State justified bringing forward the Assembly election from the scheduled date in 2007 by saying that that would cement the success of the process.