Mr Harold McCusker: If the hon. Gentleman had been here earlier today, he would have heard hon. Member after hon. Member say that. I want to address myself briefly to what the hon. Gentleman mentioned earlier—the proscription of Sinn Fein. I realise that my hand would have been a great deal stronger if I had been able to cite Sir George Baker in support of the proscription of Sinn Fein. He dealt at length...
Mr Harold McCusker: The hon. Gentleman's party set them up.
Mr Harold McCusker: Mr. Airey Neave was murdered within the precincts of this building.
Mr Harold McCusker: The right hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point which was touched on by Sir George Baker in another regard. Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that any IRA money is promptly lodged in the account of Provisional Sinn Fein? To sequestrate those funds, one needs to proscribe Sinn Fein.
Mr Harold McCusker: I have listened for almost half an hour to the right hon. and learned Gentleman expressing, quite properly, concern for people in Northern Ireland who may be innocent. However, in his consideration for their civil liberties, he is clearly making it more difficult for the security forces to deal with terrorism; no doubt that is a factor which he has thought about. Will the right hon. and...
Mr Harold McCusker: Will the Minister say more about this group to which he intends to offer financial assistance? Who has selected it, and what justification is there for giving it public funds?
Mr Harold McCusker: I intervene briefly to give my agricultural friends the opportunity to shake the straw out of their hair because no doubt they will be splashing about in the milk quota once again when they have had time to digest what the Minister has just told us. I should like to comment on three of the allowances that he mentioned when he introduced the Supplementary Estimates for the Department of Health...
Mr Harold McCusker: I have suffered the same frustration as the hon. Gentleman and others. We are dealing with a category of people who do not want to take advantage of the system. Perhaps one can say that that is unfortunate. That applies to other aspects of the social security system. Those are the people who are least willing to take what they are entitled to — for example, in supplementary...
Mr Harold McCusker: That makes my point. If he has not already done so, I ask the Minister to investigate this matter. I appreciate that there are dangers in what I shall say, but is it possible to identify where most of that money is spent? I should not be surprised if it was spent in those areas of the Province where the Queen's writ does not run as it should. There are all sorts of pressures on all sorts of...
Mr Harold McCusker: When the Secretary of State next meets Dublin Ministers, will he ask them to describe in detail the abject misery and nightmare existence which they allege is endured by hundreds of thousands of people in Northern Ireland for which he is responsible? What does the Secretary of State intend to do to remove the deprivation which, according to allegations made at the weekend, is suffered by...
Mr Harold McCusker: asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will proscribe Provisional Sinn Fein.
Mr Harold McCusker: Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that that answer will disappoint many people in Northern Ireland and on the mainland, especially in the light of the comments made by the leader of Sinn Fein in the aftermath of the Brighton bombing? If he is not prepared to consider proscription, will he take up the suggestion made in Sir George Baker's recent report that a debate should take place in...
Mr Harold McCusker: My hon. Friend may be right.
Mr Harold McCusker: If there are any eggs left in Northern Ireland.
Mr Harold McCusker: My hon. Friend should not get involved in that argument.
Mr Harold McCusker: The debate exposes the Bill's weakness and the nonsense of some parts of it. My hon. Friend the Member for Antrim, South (Mr. Forsythe) talked about making identification foolproof without introducing identity cards. The entire business of producing a prescribed document is as strong as the weakest prescribed document. The weakest prescribed document is that which is held most generally....
Mr Harold McCusker: As the Minister will recall, I was one of those who said that I did not think that the paramilitaries would try to steal medical cards, or even print a document. Is my medical card a prescribed document or do I require, by 15 May, a new card? In the election next year will one or other of the cards be valid? As that card is the one that does least to identify, in the sense that there is no...
Mr Harold McCusker: The cards will be issued?
Mr Harold McCusker: I do not intend to do that, Mr. Dean. I do not want to delay the Committee any longer than necessary. The Under-Secretary of State will remember that when we discussed the availability of the prescribed documents to the holding agent he produced some convincing arguments to support the case that the documents should not be made available to the polling agents. I suggested to him that...
Mr Harold McCusker: I am not suggesting that it should interfere in any way with the presiding officer's discretion or judgment. It would be demonstrating to all concerned that a prescribed document was being presented. I do not think that he should be involved in any decision making at that stage. He is just saying that he has been given a prescribed document.
