Mr Harold McCusker: That is precisely the point that I wanted to come to. I would like the hon. Member's sympathetic understanding to be directed elsewhere. However, the matter is more complex than he has suggested because that industry has been traditionally and historically associated with one religious community in Northern Ireland. Two such companies in my constituency will face grave difficulties when the...
Mr Harold McCusker: I have already conceded that there are historical, cultural and many other reasons for those imbalances. What I am saying is that those imbalances may not be so massive, depending on how we view them. I feel that, while the fact that nine out of 10 Protestants and eight out of 10 Catholics are employed suggests an imbalance, it does not suggest a massive imbalance. It does not suggest...
Mr Harold McCusker: Catholics do obtain employment in Northern Ireland. That is precisely the point I am making. What we are arguing about is the differential between the two communities in terms of either the Government's unemployment statistics or the statistics about which I am talking. The hon. Lady may not realise that some 50,000 Protestants are also unemployed in Northern Ireland. If matters were so...
Mr Harold McCusker: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Harold McCusker: Will the Minister confirm that one of the more significant interest groups in the educational affairs of Northern Ireland is the Government of the Irish Republic, using the offices of the Anglo-Irish Conference, where they purport to represent what I think is called the Nationalist community in Northern Ireland? As the Minister can ignore and deliberately take no account of the wishes of the...
Mr Harold McCusker: Does the hon. Gentleman accept that I would be proud if I were last on the list, because for 15 years I have come to the House every week and asked it to cover Northern Ireland matters as it covers matters relating to other parts of the United Kingdom? The House refuses to cover Northern Ireland properly. When it does, I shall vote and participate fully
Mr Harold McCusker: Does the Secretary of State understand that, while he welcomes the statement of the hon. Member for Newry and Armagh (Mr. Mallon), people in Northern Ireland will see that statement in the context of the ongoing talks that the hon. Gentleman has with Sinn Fein, which, in the Secretary of State's own words, is indistinguishable from the people who planted the bomb under the van last night?...
Mr Harold McCusker: What proportion of the legislation that the right hon. Gentleman today announced will be proceeded with next week has any application to Northern Ireland?
Mr Harold McCusker: Will the Leader of the House stop misrepresenting what happened last night? May I assure him, without fear of contradiction, that the House was kept here until 5.30 am at the insistence of the Ulster Unionists, who were using the only device available to them—
Mr Harold McCusker: My point is linked to that. —to protest at the means by which the Government apply legislation to Northern Ireland. Is the Leader of the House aware that Ulster Unionists have been informed only today that once again another important piece of legislation, the Criminal Justice Bill, will have sections that apply to Northern Ireland added on Report? Is that an adequate way of dealing with...
Mr Harold McCusker: Why does the Secretary of State not come to the House following such meetings and make a statement in accordance with the normal conventions of the House following such meetings with a foreign Government? Is is simply because he has nothing of any significance to report, or is it just that he is still contemptuous of the elected representatives of the people of Northern Ireland?
Mr Harold McCusker: I shall not detain the House for long. In fact, I would not be speaking to the motion at all if the slightest parliamentary courtesy had been extended to the people of Northern Ireland, their elected representatives and, for that matter, the House by the Northern Ireland Office today, when it presented to the House a White Paper. I am sure that only you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and very few...
Mr Harold McCusker: In that regard I agree with what the Prime Minister said at the Dispatch Box last week. If anyone disputes that assertion, I challenge him to go to where I was employed for six years before I came to this House and check my record there. An employer is a fool to do other than employ on merit alone, because in the current extremely difficult business circumstances, particularly in Northern...
Mr Harold McCusker: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. On the basis of the remarks you have just made, am I not entitled to know by how many I lost the last vote? On the last occasion, 126 Members rose from their seats; if the Clerk did not count them, I can advise him of that fact. I imagine that between now and 4 o'clock a larger or smaller number of Members than that may rise from their seats. May the...
Mr Harold McCusker: Further to that point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. You said that the number would be recorded in the Journal.
Mr Harold McCusker: Has the Leader of the House noticed how easy it has been for the Government to apply large segments of the Firearms (Amendment) Bill to Northern Ireland and how simple it was for a Conservative Member to apply the Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Rear Seat Belts by Children) Bill to Northern Ireland? Bearing in mind what the Prime Minister said in Perth last Friday about legislative devolution,...
Mr Harold McCusker: Does the Secretary of State agree that sentencing policy should play a major part in the fight against terrorism? In the Secretary of State's view, what conditions should a convicted terrorist have to meet to qualify for remission of sentence?
Mr Harold McCusker: Will the Leader of the House reflect on the statement that he made last week—he repeated it today—that it would not be right for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to come to the House to make a statement following meetings of the Anglo-Irish Conference? What is not right about the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland doing what Prime Ministers and Foreign Secretaries have...
Mr Harold McCusker: I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 20, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely, the outcome of yesterday's meeting of the Anglo-Irish Conference. The matter is specific because yesterday's meeting dealt with the Gibraltar killings, extradition, terrorist cross-border...
Mr Harold McCusker: Is The Prime Minister aware that a few moments ago the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland tried to tell me that what I had heard her say on Tuesday at Prime Minister's Question Time, when she expressed concern about The Prime Minister and Government of the Irish Republic, was identical to what the Foreign Secretary said at the weekend? Is that what she expected me to interpret her as...
