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Northern Ireland Bill

Perhaps in a slip of the tongue, the Secretary of State referred to ““whatever honourable motivations”” loyalist paramilitaries might have had in the past. May I make it clear to him that there were no honourable motivations for the UVF or UDA in the past? We never bought the line that was being retailed that their actions were purely reactive to republican violence. His comments were reminiscent of the Northern Ireland Office’s failure for a long time to outlaw the UDA. Given that the IMC report today highlighted that loyalist paramilitary groups are active, violent and up to their necks in crime, and that we know that they have not decommissioned anything and now feel free to say that decommissioning is off their agenda, what clear message are the Government sending to loyalist paramilitaries?