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Northern Ireland

May I, too, express to the Secretary of State and the Minister of State my appreciation for the help and support that they have given me in fulfilling my responsibilities in the past 48 hours? May I associate with my remarks my hon. Friend the Member for South Antrim (Dr. McCrea), who, as the Secretary of State will know, regrettably cannot be here as he was admitted to hospital today? He was in the constituency, at the base, on Saturday evening and again on Sunday, when he accompanied me to the site. He was with the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister this morning, on his way to the hospital. May I join with the Secretary of State in expressing our condolences to the families of the two brave young men who were slain at the Massereene base on Saturday evening? It is a very sorrowful and devastating time for those families, and our hearts and prayers go out to them. We express our sympathy for the families of the two other soldiers injured, and the two members of our local community also injured. Does the Secretary of State welcome, as I do, the remarks made by all Unionist leaders—and indeed by representatives of the Ulster Political Research Group and the Progressive Unionist party who will be associated with the loyalist paramilitary associations—that the matter should be left entirely to the PSNI, that people should give their support to the police service, that due process is the way forward, and that all information that is available should be given to the police, so that they can apprehend those responsible? Does the Secretary of State agree that there is no such thing as a mindless terrorist attack, and that every terrorist attack has a purpose? The purpose of this attack was to drive our community apart, to cause division and to drag us back to the bad old bloody days of the past. Those terrorists can never achieve that unless the people of Northern Ireland allow them to. Does he agree that there is a spirit in Northern Ireland characterised not by the evil we saw on Saturday, but by the good we saw on Sunday and since? People in Northern Ireland are saying together, loudly and clearly, "We're not going back."