| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Mr. William Hague (Richmond, Yorks): I wish the Prime Minister well in his endeavours to pursue the peace initiative so vigorously commenced by my right hon. Friend the Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Major). The Opposition share his horror and condemnation of recent murders, including the two RUC officers in Lurgan. We also share his concern about the fragile situation on the ground in the Province.
I welcome in particular the continued improved appreciation in the United States of the real character of Sinn Fein-IRA. I also welcome the Prime Minister's efforts to find a credible and secure way through the decommissioning block. I welcome his assurance that, in informing Sinn Fein that in the event of an unequivocal IRA ceasefire it could gain entry to the talks in six weeks, he has made it clear that that would be dependent on the credibility of such a ceasefire as shown by both deeds and words.
There are four areas on which I seek further information or reassurance. First, will the Prime Minister confirm that he will proceed with simultaneous negotiations on all three strands as originally set out by my right hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mr. Brooke)? Secondly, can he confirm that there will be no question of substantive negotiations with Sinn Fein proceeding without early parallel decommissioning of illegal terrorist weapons? Thirdly, does he believe that there should be regular reviews within the talks process to ascertain progress, and the viability of continuing the process? Fourthly, can he confirm that progress can be made only by agreement within the talks, reached on the basis of sufficient consensus, and that he has no intention of seeking to impose solutions?
Finally, may I assure the Prime Minister that Conservative Members are anxious to maintain the previously successful bipartisan approach to these matters, provided that the Government's actions continue to be in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland.
The Prime Minister:
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for welcoming the statement, and particularly for expressing his desire to maintain the bipartisan relationship. It is difficult to do such things in politics, and he deserves great credit. I think that his predecessor would agree that the attempt to establish a bipartisan relationship under the previous Government helped the process. I am grateful to him for that.
The right hon. Gentleman asked whether it was clear that any participation by Sinn Fein must be on the basis of a ceasefire that is credible in word and deed. Yes, that is absolutely correct. I can agree with the four points that he put to me. The timetable for the substantive negotiations on decommissioning will be discussed by the committee that will be established, but, as I emphasised when I quoted the words of Senator Mitchell, it is a process that occurs during the negotiations. As for the simultaneous negotiations on each of the various strands, I can tell the right hon. Gentleman that they are proceeding apace at the same time.
I hope that we can make progress within the talks. I believe that it is possible to do so. I know that it requires an immense act of endeavour from all concerned, but I concur with the right hon. Gentleman that that is the only basis--it is certainly the only basis that we can see--on which we have a chance of moving the process forward. If it does not move forward, it will only move backwards; it will not stay as it is now.
Mr. Paddy Ashdown (Yeovil):
Would it be helpful if I confirmed what I suspect the Prime Minister knows already--that Liberal Democrats will wish to preserve the cross-party consensus, as we did with the previous Government?
I welcome the Prime Minister's statement. We believe that he is right to seek at this point to give more momentum to the resuscitation of the peace process on the basis of the Mitchell principles, which he has clearly done. We also believe that he will gain wide support for the idea that it is now time to make progress again, and that the negotiating train, as he put it, cannot wait indefinitely for Sinn Fein. It is "make up your mind" time for politicians and terrorists alike in Northern Ireland.
Will the Prime Minister confirm, however, that there is an open door for Sinn Fein on that train, provided that it subscribes to the Mitchell principles and has a durable ceasefire in place by that time? Will he also confirm that the best way in which Unionists in the House can represent the best interests of their constituents is to give a positive welcome to the Mitchell process and the Prime Minister's initiative, so that the two-year logjam in the peace process can end, and end soon?
The Prime Minister:
I agree with the right hon. Gentleman, particularly about the negotiating train leaving. Sinn Fein knows what it must do: it is absolutely clear. Any ceasefire that is called must be unequivocal,
Everyone involved in the process now has a huge responsibility to take the opportunity to move it forward. As I said a moment ago, if it does not move forward, it will move backwards. One of the reasons why I thought it so important to try to act early is that the situation is fragile. In some areas, it is deteriorating on the ground. If we do not move the process forward now, I fear for the future.
Mr. David Trimble (Upper Bann):
The Prime Minister will recall agreeing with my hon. Friend the Member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone (Mr. Maginnis) last week when, after the murder of two policemen in Lurgan in my constituency, he described Sinn Fein-IRA as irredeemable. Does he not agree that the attempt last night in Lurgan to murder members of the security forces and the thwarted ambush at Woodbourne RUC station in west Belfast this morning reinforce that description? Does he appreciate that most people will wonder why yet another last chance is being given to terrorists who have failed again and again to renounce violence?
Will the Prime Minister make it clear that an unequivocal ceasefire must be a genuinely permanent end to violence with no more social and economic terrorism and no more orchestrated civil disorder, and that the character of the ending of violence is much more important than any time period, however it might be expressed? Does he agree that the 17-month delay in implementing the Mitchell report proposal for a verification commission to oversee decommissioning of terrorist weapons is a serious reflection on both the British and Irish Governments, and that it reinforces the suspicion of many of us that there are elements within those Governments that do not want to see any actual decommissioning at all?
Does the Prime Minister agree that parallel decommissioning as suggested by Mitchell must mean decommissioning that begins with the talks, continues during the talks and is complete at the end of the talks? Does he not agree that, consequently, any timetable for talks must be matched by a timetable for decommissioning and that the paper that he is circulating is seriously deficient in such mechanisms and needs to be supplemented? Can we be assured that those deficiencies will be remedied before the summer recess, so that the target date in September is not postponed? It is not enough simply to put mechanisms in place: they must actually start to work.
The Prime Minister:
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that statement and pay tribute to his determination to try to move this process forward in what I know is a very difficult situation for him. I entirely agree that the essence of any ceasefire is that it is a genuine end to violence. It is the sincerity of it that is the most important thing--I totally accept that.
It is worth, when hon. Members can, re-reading the Mitchell six principles and understanding that they represent a pretty tough and clear statement not just that there should be an unequivocal end to violence, but that, during the course of the negotiations and talks, there
should be no threat of violence; that no one should be able to negotiate with the idea that, if the negotiations do not go the way that he wants, going back to violence is an option. That would be a false negotiation and it must not happen.
It is not just the bombings and the killings that we read about, but the punishment beatings, the thousand little examples of acts of mini-terrorism and violence that make life absolute hell for people in many communities. When one talks to a 12-year-old schoolgirl and finds that she is so aware of the problems and has lived with them all her life, one realises that there is a heavy responsibility on everyone to make sure that this situation ceases.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |