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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

In making his point so dramatically, the hon. Gentleman rather loses the precision of the point originally made by the hon. Member for Strangford (Mrs. Robinson). We are not talking about the individual who committed the act—[Hon. Members: ““We are””.] Not in respect of 7/7; those people are dead. I am talking about a far more dangerous grouping—the people who provide the sea in which terrorist fish swim. Those people are so disaffected—we need not approve of that disaffection by recognising that it exists—that they see only one route to realise their ambitions. Would I rather see them participating in the democratic process? For heaven’s sake, would not every one of us rather see them doing that, even if sometimes, Sir Michael, you have to hold your nose when you look around and see what democracy has thrown up? We may not like the Hamas victory in Palestine, but is not it better that people are participating in the democratic process?