Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 13 December 1973.
Ian Paisley
Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
12:00,
13 December 1973
We are making an historic decision in this Chamber. We in Northern Ireland hear a great deal about the enthusiasm of this House for what it is doing. A prominent member of the Executive-designate, Mr. Basil McIvor, has told the people of Northern Ireland that 600 Members of Parliament, waving their Order Papers enthusiastically, passed the Northern Ireland Constitution Act in a united effort to bring peace to our land. Those of us who have done our spell of duty in this House on matters relating to Northern Ireland know that that is a falsehood. Even for the Second Reading debate there was a sparse House, and the Opposition, by not opposing it, did not need to vote for it, so Opposition Members took a holiday. Let us be truthful. There is no great enthusiasm in the House, even tonight.
What amazes the people of Northern Ireland is that Ministers of Her Majesty's Government and hon. and right hon. Members of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, and even hon. Members on the Government benches, should claim to know what the people of Northern Ireland are thinking. They tell us almost to the thousand what will be the Majority one way or the other. The hon. Member for Leeds, South (Mr. Merlyn Rees) often taunts us by asking who speaks for whom. He never fought an election in Northern Ireland. He submitted himself to the electorate at the same time as I did, and we were elected on the same day. Eventually, the people of Northern Ireland were given an election—a strange one. It was not an election in which any party could say that if its members were returned to power it would do certain things. It was an election on the Northern Ireland Constitution Act, which provided that no party could ever be the Government. There was a veto, clearly spelt out by the former Secretary of State, that unless the Republican elements in the community joined the Executive there could be no Government.
I asked the Library to tell me the voting figures at that election. Last night on television the Minister of State told the people that he knew confidentially that this solution was widely accepted. The Northern Ireland election was not fought on who should be the Government, for no Government could come out of it. It was fought on the issue of the white paper and the Northern Ireland Constitution Act.
The party of the hon. Member for Belfast, West (Mr. Fitt) fought the election on the issue of the conference table. We fought it on the basis that we rejected the proposals and thought that there should be re-negotiation. Now, the hon. Member for Belfast, North (Mr. Stratton Mills) tells us that he knows that only a few hooligans think that this solution cannot work. He has never submitted himself to an electorate as a member of the Alliance Party. He came into the House as an official Unionist. A member of the Alliance Party submitted himself to the electorate in his Constituency and scraped in without getting the quota. The hon. Member, therefore, has no right to tell us that he knows what the electorate thinks. His party got 66,541 first preference votes, yet he tells us that only a few people are against the proposal.
Mr. Faulkner's party, which stood on the pro-Unionist ticket, got 162,000 first preference votes. I remember when Mr. Faulkner submitted himself to the electorate. He was not altogether for the White Paper. He had strong reservations on the Council of Ireland and felt that there could never be a Council of Ireland until Articles 2 and 3 of the Eire Constitution were deleted. It was spelled out clearly. Yet Mr. Cosgrave could go on television last Sunday night and say that it was never mentioned at Sunningdale.
What about those who oppose the White Paper? The opponents cast 264,000 first preference votes; 149,483 votes were cast for the SDLP. The 264,000 votes represent a large section of the community.
We were given the first Bill and told that, when passed, it would be the law of the land and could not be changed. But we are changing it today. The plebiscite can also be changed. The only hope for the people of Northern Ireland to stay out of the Republic is to keep their majority. That is the only safeguard. All these little enshrinements at the United Nations mean nothing. The only thing that will keep Northern Ireland out of a united Ireland will be that majority of people refusing to support the move.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, or the Official Opposition, is the party with the second largest number of seats in the House of Commons. The role of the Opposition is to question and challenge the Government - the Government proposes, the Opposition opposes - and constantly to call the Government to account for its actions. The Opposition also seeks to establish itself in the eyes of the electorate as a credible alternative Government. The effectiveness of the Opposition depends on the calibre of its MPs and of the Leader of the Opposition. However, probably the most important of all is the size of the Government's majority in the Commons. An Opposition confronted with a huge Government majority such as that enjoyed by the Thatcher Government in the 1983-87 Parliament can do little to prevent the passage of legislation desired by the Government and can hope only to use parliamentary time to expose deficiencies in the Government's policies and shortcomings in Government Ministers, while waiting for the next General Election.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
A document issued by the Government laying out its policy, or proposed policy, on a topic of current concern.Although a white paper may occasion consultation as to the details of new legislation, it does signify a clear intention on the part of a government to pass new law. This is a contrast with green papers, which are issued less frequently, are more open-ended and may merely propose a strategy to be implemented in the details of other legislation.
More from wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_paper
The Second Reading is the most important stage for a Bill. It is when the main purpose of a Bill is discussed and voted on. If the Bill passes it moves on to the Committee Stage. Further information can be obtained from factsheet L1 on the UK Parliament website.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
The Opposition are the political parties in the House of Commons other than the largest or Government party. They are called the Opposition because they sit on the benches opposite the Government in the House of Commons Chamber. The largest of the Opposition parties is known as Her Majesty's Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is to question and scrutinise the work of Government. The Opposition often votes against the Government. In a sense the Official Opposition is the "Government in waiting".
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
