Clause 2 - Certification commissioner
Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill
9:45 am
I accept the point that the hon. Gentleman makes. Even though I have problems with the amendments, I recognise the spirit in which they are proposed. I do not believe that people will, whatever the circumstances, be as reconciled to the Bill as he suggests. He might be careful; the argument that he makes today might be used by those who support the Bill to suggest that it will be all right on the night—that when we get to where we are going, all other things being equal, people will be able to hold their noses and accept the measure. I do not believe that the Bill will become much more acceptable, no matter how certain other things become.
One reason for my reluctance about the amendments—and I am particularly glad that, to go by what the hon. Member for Belfast, East has said, the DUP will not put its amendment to a Division—is connected to the fact that many of us use expressions such as “This must be opposed or prevented at all costs.” I should go so far as to say that I believe that about the Bill. However, I do not want to create a situation in which “all costs” includes preventing devolution. I do not want to create an incentive to avoid completion, with respect to the prospect of restoration, as a way of preventing the Bill from taking effect.
We have already seen the trouble that has arisen from the pub crawl of preconditions about creating talks, creating institutions and getting back to restoration. I recognise that the hon. Member for Belfast, East will probably not press amendment No. 41; I am not sure that it would achieve what he thinks it would. As we have seen, the Secretary of State can suspend on a come-and-go basis. We have had two commercial break suspensions, when we were stripped of our powers at midnight on Saturday, to have them restored at midnight on Sunday. If we can have commercial break suspension, I am sure that we could have commercial break restoration to create a trigger point for the appointment. It would, of course, mean restoration of the Assembly, not the institutions such as the Executive.
The amendments tabled by the hon. Member for North Down would go much further to guarantee that agreed working institutions would be in place before the appointment could be made. They are stronger than amendment No. 41. I am willing to hear what the Minister has to say. I will listen and take into account the balance, but the amendments will not make the appointment or the process more acceptable, and I am concerned that they might tilt some people’s attitude to the prospects for devolution.