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Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill

The Government wish to introduce additional models for the House to consider, and to give the Assembly scope to come up with another potential model if it so wishes. The Government have said that if the Assembly finds itself in difficulty only on the question of which model to approve, they will impose this model as a last resort. The model has been discussed with a number of organisations and individuals as part of the general discussions that take place in Government, and this is our best guess. I emphasise to the hon. Lady that the question for Members is whether they wish the clause to be added to the Bill to ensure that the Assembly can consider another potential model, along with those in earlier legislation, so that if there is a consensus in favour of this model the Assembly can adopt it. If there is no such consensus, and if the Assembly wishes to choose another model, it is free to do so. If there is no consensus at all, the Government will impose this model in due course.