Mr Harold McCusker: Does my hon. Friend remember that when Mr. Cooper was Minister of Community Relations in the power-sharing Executive, in addressing a meeting of SDLP party workers he described the Sunningdale Agreement as a vehicle by which Northern Ireland would be trundled into an all-Ireland Republic?
Mr Harold McCusker: The Secretary of State said that this House and the people of Northern Ireland should be prepared for a long haul. Although he and hon. Members may be able to settle themselves to that thinking, it is not likely to be well received in Northern Ireland. Coming off a late flight from London on Friday night, I was confronted with a newspaper headline which read: War footing call to the people....
Mr Harold McCusker: The Secretary of State has me wrong. I am not making the point to justify their comment or to sustain what they are saying. I am saying that one needs to be posed the question whether one is likely to live until tomorrow or until next week to be jolted back to reality. We were told, though I hasten to add not by the present Secretary of State, that direct rule was a panacea. For that reason,...
Mr Harold McCusker: The problem is that a person who is a part-time member of the UDR is deprived of one or the other. If he is in receipt of unemployment benefit, he cannot be a part-time man.
Mr Harold McCusker: Irrespective of that reply, will the Minister assure us that he will not change the system simply for the sake of change but will first satisfy himself that he is replacing it with something better?
Mr Harold McCusker: I accept that the responsibility is that of the Chief Constable, but will the Minister satisfy himself that the equipment used by the special patrol group in South Armagh is adequate?
Mr Harold McCusker: Taking account of the principle of the Bill, will the Minister of State ensure that there is equality of opportunity for everyone who seeks to serve on this body?
Mr Harold McCusker: Is the hon. Gentleman in a position to give a costing to the scheme as envisaged in his consultative document, or a scheme based on it? Will he assure the House that he will not replace the already adequate education system with an untried and costly system that will bear heavily on a Province that will be seriously affected by financial restriction?
Mr Harold McCusker: On behalf of United Ulster Unionists I give a qualified welcome to the order. It is qualified not because we object to the fact that the sentences are being doubled, but because we doubt the order's effectiveness. As the hon. Member for Epping Forest (Mr. Biggs-Davison) has said, the order may restore the status quo in some respects. The 50 per cent. virtual automatic remission now granted to...
Mr Harold McCusker: asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many representations he has received concerning his consultative document on the reorganisation of secondary education in Northern Ireland.
Mr Harold McCusker: Is the Minister aware that consciouness of his proposals is only now beginning to show on the surface in Northern Ireland? Will he bear in mind the example set by the Minister of State that when dealing with legislation of such importance to the Northern Ireland community full consultation is essention? Will he consider extending the time limit for representations until the middle of next year?
Mr Harold McCusker: Is the hon. Gentleman aware of the grave disquiet that there is that this has not been brought forward sooner? Is he aware, for example, that a young woman who was left widowed with two young children as a result of the Bessbrook killing less than a year ago received compensation of less than £5,000 for herself and her two young children, and that this is hard to reconcile with the £11,000...
Mr Harold McCusker: Did he return it?
Mr Harold McCusker: I want to comment on a number of items under a range of headings in the Appropriation Order and, to begin with, I turn to Class II. I congratulate the Under-Secretary and, through him, his hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Mr Carter) who is responsible for the Department of Commerce and who, with his officials, has succeeded in attracting for the first time for seven years...
Mr Harold McCusker: While accepting that the Government do want to receive all sorts of representations and suggestions, I urge the Minister to accept that Christmas has intervened and that the people of Northern Ireland are rather pre-occupied with staying alive and in employment. The time for discussions has been weeks rather than months. As this matter is fundamental to the future of educational policy in the...
Mr Harold McCusker: I am glad that the hon. Member for Epping Forest (Mr. Biggs-Davison) reminded us that the first Industrial Relations Order relating to Northern Ireland was a dose of Socialism for the Province. I presume he was implying that this was a second dose of Socialism for Northern Ireland, but I caution him when in the same breath he appears to recommend the Quigley Report and its recommendations. If...
Mr Harold McCusker: That might well be the case, but the frequency with which it was referred to in the earlier debate this evening would certainly have been directed towards getting the Government to take some cognisance of it and to bring it forward for debate, and that would imply implementing some of its recommendations. Those recommendations could not by any standard be considered as other than strong doses...
Mr Harold McCusker: I do not want to bring sectarianism into the argument, but this is vital. That is encouraging news, but can the right hon. Gentleman encourage us further by saying whether there has been any greater success in attracting members of the minority community into the force?
Mr Harold McCusker: On the last occasion when we renewed this order, I pointed out that for some people in Northern Ireland it was as easy to take a gun and murder someone as it was to take a cup of tea. I made that case to show what I regarded as the necessity for capital punishment. Despite what the Secretary of State has said, I do not believe that that case has in any way diminished. Whether the House of...
Mr Harold McCusker: Does not the hon. Gentleman accept the view of the distinguished judge, Lord Justice Scarman, in relation to my hon. Friend the Member for Antrim, North (Rev. Ian Paisley)?
