Mr Harold McCusker: Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the criticism, on which I hope to enlarge later, if I am lucky, was directed at the system of administration? In fact, I cannot find a single instance of a personal attack having been made by the Convention. However, SDLP Members have made substantial and numerous attacks on Ministers.
Mr Harold McCusker: I, too, wish to thank the Minister for his comments. I have always deprecated the personal attacks which are made from time to time by certain Members from Northern Ireland constituencies, some of whom are not here this morning. I believe that all 12 of us will be increasingly important as the days go by after today's events. That is something to which I personally look forward. I hope that...
Mr Harold McCusker: I do not necessarily disagree with my right hon. Friend, and I am not saying I agree with everything said in the Convention. Mr. Kinahan, of the Alliance Party, said: I am sure that people generally feel that there is big brother element dictating what is good for them. Mr. Empey, Vanguard Unionist, said that local initiative was being strangled by Whitehall. Mr. David Bleakley, of the...
Mr Harold McCusker: After 50 years of devolved government there are bound to be feelings like that. If the Government ruled Northern Ireland as they rule any other part of the United Kingdom the people there might think of themselves more as citizens of the United Kingdom. I said that I did not necessarily agree with all those comments. I was using them to highlight the sense of frustration which exists in...
Mr Harold McCusker: That is my experience of them. With the best will in the world, it is unlikely that any acceptable form of government will emerge in Northern Ireland for a substantial time. Is there no way in which the Government can rid themselves of the shackles which obviously confine them at the present time, and produce something more suitable than what we have now? Is there not something more that the...
Mr Harold McCusker: I am sure the Secretary of State is aware that the one IRA unit which has never acknowledged the cease-fire is based at Forkhill, in my constituency, and was commanded by Francis Jordan, the terrorist who was shot two weeks ago. He was interned in 1973 and released in May 1974. I do not criticise the Secretary of State on that score. He has to make such decisions. But this is evidence of what...
Mr Harold McCusker: The regiment to which this soldier belonged is currently serving in my constituency. The soldier concerned has a record of gallantry and has set an example second to none. I doubt very much whether on the evidence which I have, the admission was made in the terms in which the hon. Member for Belfast, West (Mr. Fitt) is making it. I should hate to think that he would say something here today...
Mr Harold McCusker: Have you seen the letter?
Mr Harold McCusker: Earlier today we heard a typical performance by the hon. Member for Belfast, West (Mr. Fitt). I regret that he is no longer here, because what I have to say I would prefer to say to his face rather than behind his back. The manner of his speech was more familiar in a Northern Ireland context than that which we normally have from him here. The hon. Member made a number of scurrilous attacks....
Mr Harold McCusker: If the right hon. and learned Gentleman would specify exactly what he is referring to, perhaps I would.
Mr Harold McCusker: Certainly, I should like to believe that if my hon. Friend makes such remarks he should be able to provide evidence for them. I have little sympathy for the comments that he was making or the Secretary of State's reply—
Mr Harold McCusker: Yes, I accept that also. It can be argued that one can speculate about terrorist activity and that that is different from virtually accusing individuals, by name, of murder. I have referred before to what I consider to be the phoney cease-fire in Northern Ireland. I have been criticised for that, and perhaps it would be best to refer to it in the context of my constituency as an incomplete...
Mr Harold McCusker: As the right hon. Gentleman is referring to majorities, perhaps this is an opportune time for me to interject. It seems that on the basis of what the right hon. Gentleman is saying this will not be a United Kingdom delegation but a Great Britain delegation. When he refers to the representation of the Liberal Party and the Scottish National Party entitling them to representation at Strasbourg,...
Mr Harold McCusker: Bearing in mind the importance of achieving in the RUC a proper balance representing the communities in Northern Ireland, will the Secretary of State say what assistance he is getting from the representatives of the minority, elected and otherwise, to encourage members of the Roman Catholic community to join the RUC?
Mr Harold McCusker: asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he is satisfied with the strength and utilisation of the RUC reserve.
Mr Harold McCusker: Bearing in mind the comments of the Secretary of State about the importance of the RUC and the RUC Reserve, is the Minister aware that in many police stations in my constituency the Reserve is totally inadequately equipped, not only in weaponry but in transportation and communications, to play a real part in the general security situation? If I give him a list of these police stations will he...
Mr Harold McCusker: Bearing in mind the excellent industrial relations record in Northern Ireland, what does the right hon. Gentleman intend to do about the alleged breach of the social contract by workers at STC and Ulsterbus, who, by voluntary negotiation, arrived at a settlement in excess of the £6 limit?
Mr Harold McCusker: The only comment I wish to make on the speech of the hon. Member for Preston, South (Mr. Thorne) is that the hon. Gentleman has come so far from his marching support for the "troops out" movement to his present position that there must be hope for him yet. I accept that the Secretary of State has no alternative but to bring forward the Order following the UVF's acceptance of responsibilities...
Mr Harold McCusker: I am referring specifically to County Armagh. Most of the murders in the area to which the hon. Gentleman refers were committed in County Tyrone. I meant to go on to say that members of the Miami Showband were shot in County Down. Then there were incidents involving a darts club in County Down, and also Bingo players in the same county. I am referring to my own constituency. I included two...
Mr Harold McCusker: Nobody else could have protected him. He was being taken into an area where one has to rely on one's wits and ability to get oneself out again. Cross-border roads have been closed and in the past fortnight they have been opened. If the Army intended to close those roads it should have kept them closed. If that was not its intention, it should not have been done in the first place. It will...
