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Northern Ireland Bill

That is a fair point. I would go so far as to say that Members of the reconstituted Assembly might be justified in feeling slightly patronised. They are being expected to work towards achieving an operational Assembly, but they are not going to be able to get actively involved in the decision-making loop for legislation that will be going through when the Assembly is operating. The Government would not lose anything by accepting the amendment. The hon. Member for Foyle has underlined the fact that there has been some movement. A common-sense position has been achieved, with which all the parties from Northern Ireland represented in this Chamber seem to agree. I hope that the Secretary of State does not say that Sinn Fein has a veto on the proposal, as that would be very unhelpful. I am sure that he would accept that the fact that the SDLP, the UUP and the DUP all agree that the proposal is a good idea—subject to some consultation with the Alliance, Sinn Fein and others—is a good reason to consider accepting it. Anything else would suggest that the Assembly was being set up to do what he wants, and that it will not be allowed to do what it and the people of Northern Ireland want—that is, to make important decisions and have an input into the feedback loop. The Minister of State has placed great store in having a constructive dialogue about how we can do things better than we do under the Order in Council process. I shall be interested to hear what the Secretary of State has to say, after he has reflected on the fact that we seem to have moved from a position where there was no support for the amendment to one where the key players in the debate and in Northern Ireland politics all agree that it would be sensible.