Mr Harold McCusker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will indicate the appoximate dates on which he proposes to introduce to Northern Ireland (a) the community charge, (b) the privatisation of water services and (c) the privatisation of the Northern Ireland electricity service.
Mr Harold McCusker: Why should the people of the most deserving region of the United Kingdom be denied the inestimable benefits of measures whose passage has been so hard fought over the past few years so that Scotsmen, Englishmen and Welshmen could gain from them? Why should the people of Northern Ireland be denied those benefits—if there are any benefits?
Mr Harold McCusker: Is the Secretary of State aware that a Bill of Rights is one of the few issues which meets his oft-stated criteria for cross-community support in Northern Ireland? Is he aware that members of the Unionist community in Northern Ireland believe that his reluctance to produce a Bill of Rights has more to do with the fact that he could not continue to govern us by the present totally undemocratic...
Mr Harold McCusker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list all those countries and organisations which have contributed to the International Fund for Ireland, showing the amount each has contributed to date.
Mr Harold McCusker: I apologise for being late, but I was unavoidably detained. However, I have listened carefully to the Minister and he is giving the impression that employers make judgments on national security and that it is employers who use that excuse to discriminate. In every case that has been presented to me where a person has been denied employment with a construction company at a security base within...
Mr Harold McCusker: As the Secretary of State has been responsible for security in Northern Ireland for almost four years now, what real comfort or reassurance can we draw from the figures behind the smokescreen that the Minister has just put up?
Mr Harold McCusker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about the work of the International Fund for Ireland.
Mr Harold McCusker: What does it feel like, as a member of a Government who put such a premium on hard work, self-reliance and thrift, to be the recipient of Third world aid from the United States of America?
Mr Harold McCusker: Will the Secretary of State bear in mind that it was not us who claimed that the Anglo-Irish Agreement would bring peace, stability and reconciliation? None of us for one moment suggested that it is responsible for the violence. However, the hope was held out to our people that the agreement would bring a change. Will the Secretary of State also bear in mind that, despite the exhortation of...
Mr Harold McCusker: Would we not be better starting a little closer to home when we consider democracy for Northern Ireland? Is the hon. Gentleman aware that a Committee of the House is considering legislation that applies only to Northern Ireland and it includes only three representatives of the people of Northern Ireland, whereas 12 or 13 years ago when the first fair employment Bill was before the House, five...
Mr Harold McCusker: The Minister is not responsible for anything.
Mr Harold McCusker: Will the Prime Minister tell us whether the Government raised with the Government of the Irish Republic yesterday the case of Father Ryan? Did they discuss whether he would be tried under the extraterritorial legislation? Were they assured that Father Ryan was still within the jurisdiction of the Irish Republic?
Mr Harold McCusker: In view of yesterday's announcement on privatising water supplies in Great Britain, does the Minister intend to privatise the water service in Northern Ireland, and if not, why not?
Mr Harold McCusker: My intervention might be of assistance to the Secretary of State. Can the hon. Gentleman tell us what the caution is in the Irish Republic on this issue?
Mr Harold McCusker: Does the hon. Gentleman not accept that members of Sinn Fein are subject to the IRA and that Sinn Fein is an extension of the IRA? In the words of a former hon. Member representing West Belfast, they are daylight politicians. Does he not accept that Sinn Fein is an extension of a terrorist movement and as a consequence its members should be treated as terrorists?
Mr Harold McCusker: Is the Home Secretary aware that the real welcome in Northern Ireland will be, not for the detail of what he has said today, but for what he subsequently confirmed, namely, that his statement heralds the beginning of an inevitable process designed to squeeze Sinn Fein out of the political system in Northern Ireland?
Mr Harold McCusker: rose——
Mr Harold McCusker: Will the Minister give way?
Mr Harold McCusker: I did not approach this debate with great enthusiasm and, as I listened to the opening three speeches, my enthusiasm grew even less. I am grateful for the tone and content of the speech made by the hon. Member for South Down (Mr. McGrady) because it enables me to play what I hope will be at least a partially constructive role in the debate. An Ulster Protestant coming to the House to listen...
Mr Harold McCusker: I hope that it will be explained to me why that is not the position. We face a statistical minefield. If we do not face the realities, we shall never change statistical patterns. Family size is important. Let us take the example of a Roman Catholic living in the hills of south Fermanagh, where there has never been any industrial development. Let us say that he is the member of a large family...
