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Northern Ireland Bill

I am not sure that hundreds of millions of pounds is anything like correct. The hon. Gentleman may want to check the accuracy of that assertion. He surely is not suggesting that the fact that Sinn Fein Members have not taken their seats, which I regret—although they continue to do their constituency work—in this House, which has sat for centuries, is the same as Members of the Legislative Assembly refusing to sit together and do the job for which they were elected. If we failed by 24 November, we would then carry forward the government of Northern Ireland. Of course an Assembly and Executive could at some future year be restored under the original Good Friday arrangements; that is to say, without the fresh basis for which this Bill provides. In that event, the Bill enables an Assembly election to be called later, subject to an affirmative vote in Parliament. But I do not want, and I am not anticipating, failure. I believe that matters need not and will not come to that. Devolution was a success before. Not only does it tap local resource and initiative in a way that direct rule never can, but it embodies the spirit of working together that is necessary for Northern Ireland to find a truly successful place in a changing world. It says to people at home and beyond that Northern Ireland has moved on, is meeting the challenges of the past on the basis set out in the agreement, and is determined to confront the challenges of the future, for the good of all its people. I want to stress again that 24 November is for real. The past practice whereby deadlines come and deadlines go is over. This is a time for decision. Either the curtain comes down on the process since 1998 or it rises on a new future. We hope that the parties will have the courage and vision to make sure it rises. They will make their fateful decision, bearing in mind—I hope—what has been achieved in Northern Ireland’s politics these past years. That is not democratic perfection; of course not. It is not even normal, modern, democratic politics of the kind operating elsewhere in the United Kingdom. But it is, nevertheless, the foundations of a new democratic culture embracing everyone from Unionists to nationalists, from loyalists to republicans. It is a democratic culture to replace violence, never before achieved in Northern Ireland’s tangled and tortured history. That democratic culture is a precious asset. Its foundations have been carefully assembled over the years of painful negotiation, political sacrifices, ups and downs and periodic crises. It is for Northern Ireland’s parties now to decide whether they wish themselves to close down that political culture and write off a political generation. I hope that they will not do so, but instead build on it by having the courage to work together and share power together.