Clause 17
Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill
4:00 pm
Lembit Öpik (Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Affairs; Montgomeryshire, Liberal Democrat)
Welcome aboard, Mr. Atkinson. You join us at an exciting, nail-biting moment in proceedings.
First, I apologise to the Minister. I recognise that the poor, poor Minister of State for the Northern Ireland Office, the hon. Member for Delyn (Mr. Hanson), always seems to get the bum’s rush when it comes to this sort of legislation, with the Opposition becoming increasingly annoyed with the Government’s position. I also assure him that although I feel great warmth for him personally and have a lot of respect for his capabilities, we do not seek to provoke him or the Government for any spurious reason. I and my hon. Friend the Member for Argyll and Bute (Mr. Reid) genuinely feel the concerns that we have raised.
I move swiftly on to conclude my points about amendment No. 3. In essence, the recent history of politics in Westminster in relation to the Government’s fundraising efforts shows how any political party will seek to gain advantage using any loophole that it is possible to find. The Government should not be surprised that we are so concerned about giving Ministers the opportunity to extend the prescribed period under the clause. We should remember also that at least one party in Northern Ireland has considerable previous form when it comes to taking advantage of what one might call illegitimate fundraising techniques.
The Minister’s position would carry more gravity if he were willing to accept that the exercise is one in risk management rather than risk elimination. What slightly irks us is that the Minister seems to suggest that the Government’s solution is perfect and our concerns are not necessarily legitimate. When the Minister responds to my amendment and to amendment No. 28, which seems to do much the same, will he be a little more balanced in recognising that our concerns are legitimate and they come down to matters of judgment? When it comes to such matters of judgment, those on the Opposition Benches and the Members of Parliament who represent constituencies in Northern Ireland have plenty of circumstantial evidence to suggest that if things are not tied down tightly and made transparent, that opaqueness will be used to maximum advantage by those who have taken much more dramatic and illegal measures to raise money before.