New Clause 2
Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill
3:45 pm
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
I should explain to hon. Members that we modelled the new clause on section 55 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, which gives the office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland relevant powers over Serious Organised Crime Agency staff in Northern Ireland. At present, as per Patten, the Police Service of Northern Ireland has primacy in matters of national security, and the police ombudsman has the power to investigate complaints regarding its handling of such matters. That accountability has helped enormously to build confidence in the new beginning for policing.
Again and again, the police ombudsman has investigated complaints that have gone to the heart of national security, concerning issues such as the Omagh investigation and Stormontgate, and the Government have yet to raise any serious complaint. No one has even attempted publicly to argue that it has been a bad thing. The sky has not fallen because the police ombudsman’s office has had that reach into activities and information relating to national security; far from it, because the office’s function has been one of the pillars of confidence in the new beginning for policing.
On Monday, the truth will emerge again with the police ombudsman’s report into the murder of Raymond McCord. It is widely expected that the report will show, among other things, that an RUC informer murdered again and again—Catholics, Protestants, civilians, paramilitaries and even a minister of religion—and that it was allowed to go on. That is the reality of what has happened in Northern Ireland—collusion and complicity. If the matter had involved MI5 work, we might not have found out about it, and if it were to happen in future under the Government’s proposed regime, we would not find out about it. Under current plans, MI5 will deal with much of the work related to domestic terrorism.
A lie is being sold, and some foolish people have bought it, that MI5’s role in the future of Northern Ireland—its expanded headquarters and its new recruits—is all about international terrorism. The reality is that a large part of MI5’s work in Northern Ireland will still concern domestic terrorism. The Minister’s comments in Committee on Tuesday reflected that, because he recognised that the issues dealt with in the Bill’s earlier clauses touched on not only criminal justice but national security. He was equally explicit then that non-jury courts would relate only to domestic terrorism and Northern Irish paramilitaries specifically, not international terrorism. It is clear that MI5 will continue to play a significant role in that area.
It is proposed that primacy in national security will move in October from the Police Service of Northern Ireland to MI5. If national security functions have not been impaired or compromised in any way by the police ombudsman’s power to pursue information in investigations relating to national security, including information in the hands of MI5, what is the argument for saying that there is a risk in allowing that to continue, if primacy shifts?
It is clear that the shift of primacy and the bogus separation sold to Sinn Fein in the Prime Minister’s statement is about separating the work of MI5 from the scrutiny and challenge of the police ombudsman’s office. No one with possible cause for concern or complaint about the work of MI5 in the future will be able to go to the police ombudsman, whereas they can do that now. It is clear that under Government proposals the police ombudsman will not be able to investigate what MI5 does in Northern Ireland, which clearly shows that there will be a loss of accountability.
The Prime Minister’s statement last week sought to tell us that there will be no diminution in police accountability in Northern Ireland, which will be true of PNSI accountability. It is true that the PSNI will be no less accountable to the ombudsman, so the assertion in the Prime Minister’s statement is technically true. However, what if someone were to say, “Well, what about intelligence policing in Northern Ireland? Will that be less accountable under the new arrangements or not?”? The fact is that it will be less accountable. To that extent, the line in the Prime Minister’s statement is misleading and calculatedly misleading, as are some other things in his statement, such as that the police officers who will interact with MI5 will be “PSNI headquarters staff”. That might sound the same as saying that they will be based at PSNI headquarters, but it does not mean that. They might be PSNI headquarters staff, but there is no guarantee that they will be based in PSNI headquarters. Again, people who say that there will be no co-location and that they have persuaded the Government of that are either buying a lie or selling one.
The structures that are supposed to hold MI5 to account are, quite simply, useless. Only people who believe that they were subject to MI5 surveillance and attention can bring complaints against MI5 through the investigatory powers tribunal. Do not just take my word for that, because it is stated on the tribunal’s own website. The investigatory powers tribunal is pretty clear about who can and cannot bring a complaint, and it is only those who have been the subject of attention from MI5.
We therefore face the ludicrous situation in which Osama bin Laden can complain about MI5, but the Omagh families in Northern Ireland, who were let down by MI5, cannot complain, even though MI5 did not bother to pass on a bomb warning about Omagh for seven and a half years. It is bad enough that people who may be victims of MI5’s negligence or abuse of power cannot bring complaints, but even if they were able to bring complaints, do complaints to the tribunal go anywhere? The tribunal investigated 380 complaints from its foundation in 2000 until 31 December 2004. How many of those complaints were upheld? Not one. How many reasons were ever given? Not one. That is not accountability, and it is certainly not accountability in terms of the Northern Ireland standards that are now needed as per the Patten report and the Patten vision. Hon. Members might be happy enough to have that level of accountability for themselves, but MI5 will not play as concentrated and sensitive a role in their constituencies as it will in mine.