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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

The retreat is an admission by the Government that their strategy on elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly and the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly is in tatters. The Government were hoping that there would be a change of heart among the people of Northern Ireland, that the people would be prepared to see the Assembly up and running again and that the people would be prepared to trust Sinn Fein. They were therefore hoping to use those powers to call an early election to try to change the political composition of the Assembly at an early stage. I think that the fact that the Government are now retreating from these clauses indicates that they accept that had they attempted to call an early election, the result would have reinforced previous election results and my party would have again been the clear winners in the Unionist community. Nothing has been done to engender the trust that Sinn Fein should be admitted to government. I take heart from the Minister’s retreat because, although we are not afraid of an election, it means that the Minister, the Secretary of State and the Government recognise that early elections to change the political landscape is a ploy that will not work. The Government have accepted our point that if trust does not exist, there is no point in calling another election. An interim arrangement for the Assembly is needed to start to build up that trust, which is what the Secretary of State and the Minister have agreed to do. I hope that SDLP Members will grab that opportunity and enter that interim arrangement and, knowing that we cannot have full blown devolution, seek the lowest common denominator that will allow local representatives in Northern Ireland to get back into doing some things locally. Although we would have had no difficulty with the clauses remaining, or indeed with the Government calling an election to the Assembly, the hard reality that the Government now face encourages us to believe that they have at least recognised that there has been no change in opinion in Northern Ireland as regards accepting Sinn Fein in Government. We are happy that they have decided not to pursue the clauses and have recognised that their strategy was folly.