“Schedule 7A - Connection with relevant part of United Kingdom

Part of Crime and Courts Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at 10:30 am on 12 February 2013.

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Photo of Ian Paisley Jnr Ian Paisley Jnr Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Work and Pensions), Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) 10:30, 12 February 2013

I really want the Minister to go further, because I agree that the whole principle is that we want this to apply equally and equitably across the United Kingdom. He indicated that he agreed with the thrust of what I said, but the message is that failure for Northern Ireland makes the whole Bill defective, because there is then an opening that crime gangs and others can exploit. It is not about the damage done to the citizens of Northern Ireland, much as I care for them; it is about the damage that will now be done to all the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. That is the point that the Minister has to address. We cannot move forward on the basis of a hope, a skip, a wish and a prayer. The issue must be addressed and, given the Assembly’s failure to deal with it, it must be addressed in this legislature, not in the Assembly.