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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

It would also be possible for an Education Minister not to encourage the public to give evidence when schools had been attacked and windows broken. I think that the new clause is a step in the right direction. I was perturbed by the Secretary of State’s apparent acceptance that Sinn Fein had done all that it could. When I pressed him again, he said:"““I do not want a late pre-condition established on top of the absolutely correct demands that have been made of republicans that they decommission, that they end their paramilitary activity and they end their criminality.””" It would seem that the Secretary of State is sending a signal to Sinn Fein, saying ““You have done all these things, we are thankful, and we do not want to press you any further.”” Let me make it clear that this is not a new precondition. It is not an attempt to create a hurdle. It is a long-standing requirement. It is what was meant by the reference in the pledge of office to being committed to entirely democratic and peaceful means. That must involve upholding and supporting the police, which has not been done. It is therefore important for us to send the right signal. I take the point made by the hon. Member for Foyle (Mark Durkan). I believe that this argument has been weakened somewhat by the activities of one of the Unionist parties in Northern Ireland. At least in the House of Commons, even today, all who represent the Unionist tradition have made it clear that they envisage no role in Government for those who have been involved in terrorism. Only last week, when the Secretary of State appeared before the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, the hon. Member for North Down (Lady Hermon) put on record what the IMC report had said in paragraphs 2.30 and 2.31 about the activities of the Ulster Volunteer Force. I will not read it out now, because time is short. Two days later, the hon. Lady was completely undermined by her own party, which seemed to have ignored all that the IMC had said because, in terms of ministerial posts, it was in its interests to do so. That was the reason given. At the weekend I conducted an interview with one of the party’s leading negotiators, and that was the only reason he gave. He did not say that it would help the UUP to persuade the UVF to give up its guns and its criminality; he simply said that it would give the party an extra position should an Executive be established. I believe that that cynical exercise has, to an extent, undermined the position that the Unionists have adopted. I should make it clear, however, that we believe the same requirement should apply across the board. We cannot allow it to be weakened by the fact that some may have decided for cynical reasons to ally themselves with those whom the IMC has accused of being engaged in all kinds of criminal and terrorist activity. This is an important new clause. The Government must stop being ambivalent toward the behaviour of Sinn Fein and its associates, and toward that of others involved in terrorist activity. It does not matter whether or not the Minister includes this test in the Bill: we will apply it to Sinn Fein. It would be much better to include that test in the Bill, however, so that the clear message is sent to terrorists and to Sinn Fein that the whole democratic body of the United Kingdom supports the test and requires that it is met. But we will make the judgment, and as we have made clear today, if Sinn Fein persists in its refusal to back law and order and the police, and persists in its refusal to encourage those who are influenced by it to support the police, it will not be regarded as fit for government and will not be included in the Executive. The Minister is keen to have devolution in Northern Ireland by the end of November. The one way to ensure that that does not happen is to allow Sinn Fein to believe that it is not going to be pushed into doing the proper thing, the democratic thing, the right thing, which is to support the police, who will have to enforce the laws that they would wish to pass in an Executive.