Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill [Lords]

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 6:44 pm on 10 March 2004.

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Photo of John Spellar John Spellar The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office 6:44, 10 March 2004

I am grateful to hon. Members who have participated in the debate, although I expect that a greater number will attend Northern Ireland questions next Wednesday, prior to the Budget. A considerable number of points have been raised, and I shall address them in Committee if I cannot cover them all in the time available. I shall deal with the regrettable Opposition amendment in a brief rant towards the end of my speech.

I certainly take the point raised very strongly by Mr. Dodds about the ongoing activity of the Provisional IRA, although we need to reflect, as was indicated in the exchange with Mr. Clifton-Brown, on the considerable improvement that has taken place. We always need to get that balance right. I obviously depart from the hon. Member for Belfast, North on the conclusions that he draws. He implies that the provisions are somehow concessions to those groups. That is not the case at all. Indeed, a number of the controversial issues that we are describing involve the timing of matters that were already agreed in 2002, when the Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill was passed. The hon. Member for Belfast, North and other hon. Members also asked questions about other legislation, comparing it with needs on the ground, and I strongly reject the implication that we were not responding.

Mr. Lidington rightly talked about the problems of racial attacks. Indeed, only today, a regrettable, racist anti-Chinese leaflet has been circulating in south Belfast. Not only have I issued a very strong condemnatory statement, but the police are taking strong action. The hon. Gentleman ought to acknowledge the proactive role that the police are taking, and there has been a sizeable dip in the number of racial attacks.

We recognise that there is considerable scope to improve legislation. That is precisely why we have published our legislative proposals on giving courts increased sentencing powers in respect of attacks that are provoked by hatred of one form or another. That sends a clear message to the perpetrators and a great message of reassurance to those who could be victims, as well as putting a weapon in the hand of the judiciary. Consultation ends on 9 April, and we want to introduce the proposals as soon as possible afterwards.

Of course antisocial behaviour is also a significant problem, and Mr. Donaldson rightly raised the concerns that his constituents have expressed. I suspect that similar concerns are raised by constituents of Members of Parliament right across the United Kingdom. As I told a delegation from Magherafelt recently, we face a paradox: the number of recorded crimes has declined with proactive police action, but there is greater insecurity in many areas as well. A lot of that is linked not just to what is defined in legislation as crime, but to antisocial and intolerable behaviour.

It is true that we could not do a straight read-across from the legislation in England and Wales, because of the different administrative and local government structures. To be blunt, I do not think that we moved quickly enough on that, but I take the point that has been made a couple of times by Lady Hermon and Mr. Trimble. We have moved on the issue: we had the consultation in principle, which has already developed into major support, and we now have the consultation in detail. As I have indicated, I am bringing that forward to 9 April, precisely so that we can deal with it as quickly as possible. I know from the experience in England and Wales that we will then need to ensure that all parts of the prosecution and justice system use their powers under antisocial behaviour legislation. That is equally important in terms of diminishing paramilitary activity.

Mr. McGrady mentioned those who try to refer cases outside the justice system. There will now be an effective mechanism to deal with those cases, which are causing such problems. We have been doing more than that: we have also introduced reparation orders in youth justice matters, and we have been involving the perpetrators with their victims. Again, that is starting to have an impact on changing people's behaviour and the atmosphere on the ground. So it is not true that we are ignoring those very significant problems. We are considering a number of issues that we need to tackle, and we are doing so in the Bill.