Clause 9 - Reports of Chief Constable
Police (Northern Ireland) Bill [Lords]
4:15 pm
Mr David Wilshire (Spelthorne, Conservative)
That is absolutely so. I have made it clear in previous debates that it is inappropriate to use legislation to model arrangements on the existing members of a board, because members will undoubtedly change. The same applies here. The Minister may be content with such a board, but I am unsure what would happen when people with a terrorist background who had blood on their hands were allowed in, and they saw that some of their own were being further pursued—as they should be—rather than given amnesties and that they could find out what was going on and tip people off. This is an invitation for that to happen.
I was hoping that the Minister would say that there has been pressure to remove the provision. The right hon. Member for Upper Bann has suggested that a slavish following—even a misunderstanding—of Patten has led to this action. If the Minister had said
that, it would have provided a reason for it, but all we have got from her so far is, ''It won't happen, so it doesn't matter.'' As long as she cannot provide a better reason or agree with the right hon. Member for Upper Bann that the Government want slavishly to follow Patten, I, being of a suspicious nature, will be left to conclude that there has to be another reason.