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Northern Ireland Bill

Indeed. The Assembly that the Bill defines is not the Assembly as defined under the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The right hon. Gentleman is right to clarify that. The twenty-fourth of November represents not a threat but great promise—a promise that the Belfast agreement holds out. The patience of all those who want locally accountable Government in Northern Ireland should be tested no longer. Successive British and Irish Governments, with the warm support of US Administrations, have been working with the parties to bring peace and stability to Northern Ireland. The truth is that there is little more we can do. The parties in Northern Ireland must now take ownership of the process and see it through. The twenty-fourth of November can, therefore, be a beginning or an end. The leadership of the parties have to decide which it is to be. As ever, the biggest obstacle to progress is the mutual lack of trust in the process. Unionists need to know that the republicans, with whom they are being asked to share power, have turned away from paramilitary activity and that they will not accept, tacitly or otherwise, criminal activity, whatever its source. They also need to know, before criminal justice and policing powers are devolved, that support for the criminal justice system and the Police Service of Northern Ireland is absolutely unequivocal. That is not too much to ask. For their part, republicans and nationalists need to know that Unionists are serious about sharing power on a fair and equitable basis and not simply paying lip service to the theory while always finding reasons to avoid the practice. That is not too much to ask.