---

Northern Ireland Bill

I agree fully with the hon. Gentleman. The implication of the Secretary of State’s earlier remark was that Sinn Fein might not agree with such a proposal. I can certainly see that Sinn Fein would not agree with giving the power of affirmative resolution; nor would we, and we would not expect the Government to agree to doing so. Such a power would give the various parties and communities a veto in their pocket on all manner of issues. Whenever Orders in Council are dealt with in this very unsatisfactory way, we are told that the problem is that different parties support different proposals. However, all that we are trying to do is to give formal expression and record to the weight of party opinion and consideration. This is a relatively modest proposal and if the Secretary of State cannot accept it, I will be disappointed.