Clause 19 - Fixed-term appointments
Police (Northern Ireland) Bill [Lords]
9:30 am
Mr David Wilshire (Spelthorne, Conservative)
I had not anticipated where the debate might lead us. I listened with care to the right hon. Member for Upper Bann (Mr. Trimble), and he reminded me of some anxieties that I have had for several years. My involvement with the politics of Northern Ireland goes back a long way, and it has taken me on many occasions into the Republic. The authorities there have always been anxious that I leave the country as safe and sound as I arrived, and they have often provided me with protection from the Garda, so I have got to know many officers over time.
I can see some benefits in letting what I will call ordinary police officers, or constables, mingling with one another. I share the right hon. Gentleman's general concern about the Garda, and I will come back to that, but the Minister said that leaving out the restriction on constables would be undesirable. She did not elaborate on why, and the more I reflect on the question, the more I think that we should ensure that policing is policing as I understand it, rather than social engineering, as it is almost becoming in Northern Ireland.
We should let constables mingle with one another. My experience of constables in the Royal Ulster Constabulary, as it was, and in the Garda was that despite their huge differences, they are ultimately police officers doing a similar job. We should let both sides in the equation understand that, and there would be huge benefits from letting Garda constables spend time with the police in Northern Ireland. They might begin to understand some of the problems that the right hon. Gentleman referred to, and such a move might have an effect in the Republic. I am not persuaded by the Minister simply saying that it
would be undesirable at that level. If she wanted to intervene to elaborate on what she meant, I would be happy to give way.