Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 3:23 pm on 9 November 2000.
My Lords, we have been entirely frank. We have made it plain that we believe that the Bill is justified on its merits and in its own terms. We believe that it could do a great deal of good in strengthening the close historical and cultural ties between our country and Ireland. For those reasons it is a very sensible measure. Talking of popular and unpopular measures, on Monday the noble Lord was kind enough to admit:
"I must confess that I introduced many measures for which there was no demand--indeed, there was positive opposition!".--[Official Report, 6/11/00; col. 1333.]
It is for the Government to decide whether something is right. That is what we have done.