Viscount Brookeborough: The question of management needs to be taken a little further. When we talk about hunting, coursing and so on, we are talking about management of the system that we wish to manage, and how we wish to manage it. There is another side to this matter that I come across frequently outside the Houses of Parliament—although I believe it is an opinion held by many in another place—namely, that...
Viscount Brookeborough: I had no intention of speaking because, coming from Northern Ireland, the Bill does not directly affect us. However, the recent debate has led me to believe that I should say something. I completely understand why hares are a soft spot in people's minds. They are different from foxes. They are lovely animals, with certain characteristics which endear them to us. They leave their leverets out...
Viscount Brookeborough: I support the amendment. It seems that the use of the word "orally" in this Bill is taken in isolation of the fact that we have entered the technological world. We are not dealing in pre-First World War semaphore or in only the spoken word. It is as simple as that. I have a mobile telephone that is no more sophisticated than those of many noble Lords. However, it receives e-mails. What are...
Viscount Brookeborough: Before we move on, I want to ask a question that has intrigued me. It may have been asked before I came into the Chamber, in which case I apologise. In terms of Ministers acting, why does the Bill require a "Minister of the Crown" yet a group of "Scottish Ministers" in all cases? Incidentally, several Scottish Ministers would have to meet, so could write down anything that they did.
Viscount Brookeborough: I have one last point. In a situation that has been declared an urgency or emergency—that may be a threat to people's lives—why does one need statutory power to ask for details of anything that has an effect under the Bill? I do not understand why one needs the power to be statutory. Having declared the state of affairs, one should be able to ask anyone anything that has a bearing on the...
Viscount Brookeborough: My Lords, I, too, thank my noble kinsman for bringing forward this debate today. I also welcome the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Southwell to one of our Northern Ireland debates. The noble and learned Lord, Lord Mayhew, mentioned, in relation to the report, the readiness of the IRA to take up action again. I add only that nowhere is that more evident than where I live in County...
Viscount Brookeborough: My Lords, in thanking the Minister for the Statement, I would also like to condemn the two recent letter bombs, or suspected letter bombs, one of which was sent to one of my colleagues on the Policing Board. The report has brought home for the first time to everybody in Westminster as a whole what we have been saying for a long while; I refer to what is going on on the ground. The commission...
Viscount Brookeborough: My Lords, I had not intended to speak but I should like to add a couple of points. First, I welcome the debate that we will have on 28 April, when we can say much more. Secondly, I declare an interest because I am on the Policing Board. The noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, mentioned the Independent Monitoring Commission. We should not hold our breath on that; the Chief Constable has said quite...
Viscount Brookeborough: My Lords, does the Lord President agree that, in the context of the Question, the newspaper advertisement to which reference has been made is not entirely a matter for Sinn Fein? Basically, the Question concerns how long the Assembly will remain suspended, and Sinn Fein's acceptance of the policing of Northern Ireland has a direct bearing on that. Therefore, the two issues are interlinked. We...
Viscount Brookeborough: My Lords, first, I declare an interest as a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. Is the Minister aware that liaison officers have recently been appointed in each district to deal with ethnic matters? Is she further aware that the day after tomorrow, the Community Involvement Committee, of which I am a member, is gathering representatives of minority communities, especially the...
Viscount Brookeborough: My Lords, I support the amendment. Regarding the word "reflective", I am involved in the Northern Ireland Policing Board. When we chose members of the district policing partnerships, of which the noble Lord, Lord Maginiss, will be aware, we had to appoint people who were "reflective" of the community. The first issue to be taken into account was religion. That was not our choice, but, we were...
Viscount Brookeborough: My Lords, it is a great privilege, but rather daunting, to follow the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Guthrie. I welcome the White Paper, although I wonder whether, in 10 years' time, we will be able to say that the Government got it right. First, I must declare a couple of interests. I am Honorary Colonel of the Royal Irish Rangers, the TA infantry battalion for Northern Ireland. I am also a...
Viscount Brookeborough: My Lords, I entirely accept that and support it. My remarks were really about going into overstretch. I deleted certain parts of my speech as a result of other excellent speeches, and it would have been inappropriate for me to go through the whole story.
Viscount Brookeborough: My Lords, I do not see much harm in the Bill; in fact there is much good. On balance, however, I would not give it my wholehearted support at this time as it is yet more concessions in certain areas for no reciprocation from the hardliners. I do not wish to repeat everything that previous speakers have said about the critical issues, but I should like to make a few points, which noble Lords...
Viscount Brookeborough: My Lords, I had not considered speaking, but there are a couple of things I should like to say in the gap. The requirement for this Bill is a sad state of affairs, and the debate has been extremely gloomy. Perhaps that should not be so, but it is difficult to see how we can move forward. However, two factors offer a glimmer of hope. First, the Prime Minister, the Government and the government...
Viscount Brookeborough: My Lords, does the Minister agree that his department should have given much better leadership early on rather than waiting for some individual police forces to come forward with their own computerised systems, which have ultimately been incompatible with one another? Is he aware that in Northern Ireland we have had a computerised register for some time? Even that is having to be modernised...
Viscount Brookeborough: My Lords, I support the order. The decommissioning period must continue, sad as that is. As we have heard, that means decommissioning on both sides. Obviously, total decommissioning would be the act of completion for which everyone is looking. The Prime Minister says that he will accept an act of completion. We are aware that he is talking to Sinn Fein/IRA which wants some form of...
Viscount Brookeborough: My Lords, I, too, have sympathy with Amendment No. 10. For once, I am delighted to say that I am entirely in favour of what the noble Lord, Lord Hylton, said, and thank him for his support. We need help in recruiting policemen. I feel that the Government do not do everything in their power to help to resolve the situation in the short-term, although there are long-term aims. When we talk of...
Viscount Brookeborough: My Lords, the Chief Constable's comments were made shortly before Christmas in the newspaper. That seems well after the appointment of Grafton.
Viscount Brookeborough: My Lords, the 50:50 issue is a problem which affects the number of police on the ground. We must do everything we can to increase those numbers. Except for one particular training course, we are just managing to fill the quotas. I believe that we are marginally ahead in total on what was estimated at the beginning. There is still a problem. The noble Lord, Lord Maginnis, referred to a recent...
