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Northern Ireland Bill

That is why I asked the question. Surely that should not be the case. If it is the case—this is why I want to press the Minister to give a reasoned response on Second Reading—the Government are, in essence, excluding a reconstituted Assembly from making some very important decisions on a whole raft of issues. One of my increasing irritations with the Government is their obsession with forcing through many decisions in a very short time, when it simply is not necessary to force the pace of Northern Ireland legislation at that rate. The Minister and his colleagues have been wholly unable to justify why decisions of such importance must be taken here and now. If they are so confident that the process will work, they can wait eight months—or perhaps not so long—to let the Assembly do its business. To press the point that the hon. Lady makes, how does the Minister expect to get the good will of Northern Ireland parties if he really means that the Assembly should be explicitly excluded by the legislation from altering decisions that, in the judgment of its 108 democratically elected Members, are the wrong answers for Northern Ireland? Indeed, if the Minister cannot give a good response to that question—I am not holding my breath—it will be one of the important topics of discussion tomorrow. I ask the Minister to reconsider whether the Government are willing to put on hold some of the more controversial policy decisions that they are proposing to put before Parliament between now and the deadline of 24 November 2006. I heard what the Secretary of State had to say about that, but what greater incentive could there be to focus the minds of the people whom they are trying to persuade than to ensure that everything is to play for until 24 November? Obviously, there is a stick-and-carrot approach, but it is diminished by the fact that the Government seem willing to make decisions that are not too time-sensitive now, when they should be giving everyone the clear space to focus on reconstituting the Assembly. We agree with the Government that if a restoration order is made before the deadline set out in the Bill, it makes sense to postpone the date of the next Assembly election until May 2008. We agree with the analysis that that would give the Assembly time to bed down and tackle some of the very real issues that face Northern Ireland before the Assembly is devolved and the parties must face the electorate again. In that context, the breathing space seems sensible. I am pleased to see that a firm date has been proposed in the Bill. The Secretary of State will know that the Liberal Democrats are suspicious of the setting of election dates by order. In fact, we feel that we were somewhat duped by the Government on a previous occasion, when they assured us that they were going to make one change, and then made another change. We are pleased that the merits of such a proposal can be discussed and debated before the whole House. We are also willing to accept the provision that would allow the Secretary of State to set an election date in the future if the Assembly is not restored in the autumn. Initially, I was not so sure about that. I hope that there is no need for that provision. I accept that the Government’s reasoning is sound, in the sense that there should be the ability to recall the Assembly and hold an election at some time in the future, even if in the short term things do not work out. My next point is about deadlines. I have watched deadlines come and go, and I have often seen the Government promising that there will be no plan B and then capitulating at the last minute all the same. That is one of the reasons why, in the months ahead, the Government may have some trouble making people really believe that the Secretary of State will be true to his word and pull the plug on the proposals at midnight on 24 November. To that extent, it is really important that everybody be given a practical assurance—reflected not just in the Government’s words, but in their actions—so that we can see that the deadline is for real. The conditions in clause 2 are very clear. There is no question but that they are as close to objective as can be achieved, but I still harbour a concern that, if things are progressing slowly on 22 or 23 November, we will see some kind of order, or a quick piece of legislation, going through the House to provide more breathing space. I would be interested to know what the Minister can give by way of reassurance. The Government have created a rod for their own back by being so expedient in the past with deadlines that we were told were final, but turned out to be nothing of the sort. We also hope that in Committee, the Government will be able to give us a clear and detailed explanation of the purpose of each of the clauses in this short Bill, and how they envisage them being used, so that there can be no ambiguity or attempted reinterpretation either by the parties in Northern Ireland or, more likely, by Ministers, when they feel that they have to start wriggling around the legislation. We have seen that before. I know that this does not please the hon. Member for North Down (Lady Hermon), but, all in all, we will support the Bill if—