Clause 66 - Display of Royal Arms at courts
Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill
6:15 pm
Mr Des Browne (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Northern Ireland Office; Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Labour)
There was no such implication in what I said. I merely made an observation from my experience. The reference to nationalists that crept into the debate did not come from the hon. Member for Rayleigh, but from the hon. Member for East Londonderry. My use of the word was in response to a point that he made.
The hon. Members for Reigate and for East Londonderry regret the fact that we are considering the issue at all. They join the hon. Members for Newry and Armagh and for North Down and me in that regret, which I expressed at the outset of my remarks on the previous amendment. The hon. Member for Reigate differs from me in my expression of regret, as to an extent does the hon. Member for East Londonderry, because he seeks to attribute some blame to the Government for our consideration of the subject.
I can accept that from the hon. Member for East Londonderry, because at least in doing so he is consistent. He has never supported the Belfast agreement, despite what the people of Northern Ireland voted for. The use of ''democratic'' in the name of his party calls for a separate definition of the word. At least he is consistent, but the hon. Member for Reigate consistently parades his support for the Belfast agreement. Support for that agreement necessarily implies support for a review, because the review came from the agreed position. The review raised the issues, and made recommendations based on what it clearly thought was a balanced approach. I sought to summarise the way in which it did so in my earlier contribution, so I shall not go over it again.
Mr. Blunt rose—