Clause 22 - Suspension and revival of section 3
Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill
3:45 pm
I shall speak to amendments Nos. 145 and 146. I agree with what other hon. Members have said about clauses 22 and 23. We are trying to prevent the bizarre situation provided for by the Bill. It is as if the arrangements can come and go, like some macabre Brigadoon, based on whatever deeds are done at the time. If the Government were honest, they would say that the Secretary of State would exercise the powers under clause 23 only if Sinn Fein had agreed that no useful purpose was being served.
The Government have told us that they are bound hand and foot to Sinn Fein in pursuing this Bill and taking it through. The fate of anything that happens in future and any exercise of the Secretary of State’s powers are entirely contingent on the approval and acceptance of Sinn Fein—and nobody else.