Northern Ireland (Government)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 9:28 pm on 29 November 1979.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mr Michael Alison Mr Michael Alison , Barkston Ash 9:28, 29 November 1979

I must not give way, because I have only four minutes left and I must deal with the points raised by the hon. Member for Down, North (Mr. Kilfedder).

My right hon. Friend has noted very carefully the comments made by the hon. Member for Down, North and also the points made by the Opposition Front Bench spokesman and by other hon. Members about the membership of the conference. We shall have to weigh and carefully evaluate what has been said. My right hon. Friend is committed to a small conference for the purpose of work load, but we are determined to find the right ways of maintaining contact with other Members to discuss what has taken place. I hope that the hon. Member for Down, North will suspend judgment about what may or may not be useful until he sees what we can provide.

On the subject of the referendum, we shall certainly see that we do the proper thing, which is to allow the conference to weigh up the value, significance and propriety of a referendum. This is not something that one should prejudge before a conference along these lines has started.

I shall try to deal with the points raised by the hon. Member for Pontypridd. On the Bill of Rights, there is a draft by Lord Wade before another place, but we do not have a copy in the Department. However, there are models which can be looked at, such as the European convention, and so on. We shall not be prevented from making progress by the absence of that draft.

On the question of Members voting, I think that the pattern will almost certainly be the same as that which obtained in the old Stormont days, namely, that Northern Ireland Members did not vote in this House on a convention in respect of matters that did not affect Northern Ireland.