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10.38 am
Mr. Andrew MacKay (Bracknell): My party warmly welcomes the fair and well-balanced report produced by the Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs under the distinguished chairmanship of my right hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mr. Brooke).
The debate has been useful and well balanced, and has proved timely because we have discussed the issues being considered by the Patten commission under the Belfast agreement. Many of the Select Committee's arguments and conclusions are reflected in our submission to the Patten commission, which we published last September. We look forward to the commission nailing the lies and distortions of those who wish to discredit the RUC and those such as Sinn Fein-IRA which would like it to be disbanded.
I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the RUC. My party is unstinting in its admiration and praise for that force. We shall do everything to uphold the integrity and reputation of the most courageous police force in the United Kingdom. For 30 years it has been in the front line against terrorism, protecting democracy. It has stood between the rule of law and the descent into anarchy in a part of the United Kingdom.
The RUC has paid a terrible price: 302 of its members have been murdered and nearly 9,000 have been injured. Intimidation continues, with many families driven from their homes. In 1998 alone, 71 families of past or serving RUC officers were rehoused owing to intimidation. Only a few weeks ago when I visited South Armagh, I learned of another police man and his family who have had to be moved under extreme circumstances.
Responsibility for that lies mainly with the Provisional IRA and other republican terror groups, although officers have suffered also at the hands of so-called loyalists. All hon. Members have seen the disgraceful scenes at Drumcree, where members of the RUC have been attacked and brutalised in quite unreasonable circumstances.
When Sinn Fein calls for the RUC to be disbanded, it is pursuing a long-held republican ambition that the IRA should be allowed to police nationalist areas. That would mean replacing the rule of law with knee-cappings and
beatings with baseball bats, as we have seen in recent months. In carrying out its duties, the RUC has never been above or outside the law, but always subject to it.
It is important that there should be change, and every hon. Member who has contributed to the debate has confirmed that. Let us not forget that the RUC has been a willing instigator of change. The force is unrecognisable from the force of 30 years ago, when the present troubles started. In recent years there has been a fundamental review of policing, the adoption of an annual policing plan, a three-year strategic plan, local strategic plans, the creation of local community police liaison committees--I was pleased to hear of the evidence that the Select Committee collected from those committees--and the setting of targets for sub-divisions and sub-departments.
In a survey carried out in September 1997, 78 per cent. of the people thought that the RUC does a good or a very good job. Significantly, 55 per cent. of the nationalist community came up with that response. That must be underlined and not forgotten.
The greatest change that the RUC requires is a permanent end to terrorism. That will allow the flak jackets, the guns and the armoured vehicles to go. It will allow the RUC to develop into a police force truly working in partnership with the community. No organisation would welcome that more than the RUC.
At the heart of my party's approach to policing is a belief that change should not be made for its own sake, and certainly not for political reasons. Conservatives believe that nothing should be done that undermines the effectiveness of the RUC in protecting the public and upholding the rule of law.
There should be no question of disbanding the RUC. It should remain the legitimate police force in Northern Ireland and it should remain a united force. The proposal to establish local forces or to separate the anti-terrorist function from what we would call normal policing would be inefficient, lead to two-tier policing and encourage those who wish to supplant the RUC.
The operational independence of the RUC must be retained at all costs to prevent the police ever becoming the operational tool of politicians of whatever political party--a problem that nationalists will recall from the Stormont period. That is not to say that accountability does not exist. The Chief Constable is accountable to Parliament, to the Police Authority and, above all, to the law. The Police Act 1998 introduces a police ombudsman and clarifies the tripartite relationship between the Secretary of State, the Police Authority and the Chief Constable. It should be given time to work.
With regard to control of the police, once the Assembly is working thoroughly, there is a case for transferring responsibility to Stormont for some matters currently carried out by the Secretary of State, but with strong safeguards, especially of operational independence. No change should be made to the tripartite structure without the consent of the House. No transfer should take place until the decommissioning of illegally held weapons has been completed, and until the routine support of the Army is no longer needed.
The crucial and sensitive issue raised by so many hon. Members in the debate is composition and recruitment. The RUC, as we have regularly been told, is 92 per cent. Protestant. We all want a police force that more accurately reflects the make-up of society, but the Minister and I
know that there are no quick fixes. The biggest deterrent to Catholics joining the force, as has been said in all parts of the House today, has been intimidation and threats from the IRA and other republicans.
Peace will help, but it will not bring results overnight. Merit must remain the basis of recruitment. The goal should be to recruit a much higher proportion of Catholics than exists in the population as a whole. I hope that that will happen.
The other sensitive issue is symbols, culture and ethos in the force. Like the Select Committee, we see no justification for changing the name of the RUC. It is a name granted by royal charter of which the force is justly proud. As the Chief Constable has pointed out, there is no evidence that the name is a significant barrier to Catholic recruitment. If there were, we would be prepared to be more flexible, to stamp that out. There can be no place in the RUC for religious or sexual discrimination. We applaud the efforts of the Chief Constable to stamp out that evil.
We support the view of the Select Committee that the Union flag should not be flown on 12 July. The Chief Constable's decision that flags should not be flown at all from police stations in the Province seems sensible, sensitive and the correct way forward.
The size of the force will be a problem. Any reduction in size from the present 13,000 members must be gradual. Even when peace is established, there will still need to be a larger force than the forces serving a comparable population in other parts of the United Kingdom. We strongly support the Chief Constable's estimate that owing to exceptional demands, the RUC should in future be, in his words,
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr. Adam Ingram):
First, I congratulate the right hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mr. Brooke) on bringing this subject to the Floor of the House and on his skilful chairmanship of the Committee. It is a measure of his chairmanship that there have been so few recorded differences between members of the
The volume of written and oral evidence to the Committee clearly bears testament to the fact that the subject matter is extremely complex. The Committee's work in taking, testing and probing that evidence could not have been easy. I know from the experience of having given evidence to the Committee, along with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, how much effort went into the Committee's work, and I shared a very concentrated afternoon with them. I should like to say that it was an enjoyable occasion, but would not want knowingly to mislead the House. I have appeared before the Committee on a number of occasions and I know how thoroughly and exhaustively it goes about its task.
I have listened very carefully to what has been said this morning. Let me begin by paying tribute to the Royal Ulster Constabulary. I have noted the tributes paid to members of the RUC and its Reserve for what they have endured and achieved during the past 30 years. I should like to echo those tributes, which have been hard earned over many years of service and sacrifice in the interest of all sections of the community in Northern Ireland. It is important that those sacrifices are not forgotten or diminished.
The RUC has played a crucial part in maintaining stability through the past difficult 30 years. All those who have served over the years, and their families, will take comfort from the sentiments expressed today about their role.
Before I come to the core of the report, I want to put my response in context. This will show that the Government's priorities reflect the Committee's timely recommendations. The Belfast agreement of 10 April is an achievement that provides the opportunity for a peaceful future based on an agreed political settlement. Although much progress has been made to date, a number of fundamental difficulties remain, although those should not overshadow what has been achieved.
The endorsement of the agreement in referendums, the election of a new Northern Ireland Assembly, the passage of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and the establishment of a Human Rights Commission and an Equality Commission will put Northern Ireland at the forefront of protecting people's rights. The Government have established the Independent Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland and a criminal justice review, and we have seen the ending of routine military patrols in Belfast and elsewhere in Northern Ireland and other moves towards a more normal security environment.
The Committee said that some changes in policing--for instance, overcoming the RUC's religious imbalance, which formed recommendation No. 16--would follow change in the political background in Northern Ireland. The Government agree with that view. The Committee's recommendation No. 27 that the status of Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary in Northern Ireland be regularised has also been taken on board. That function will become a statutory requirement as from April this year.
The Government agree with the Committee that changes to police governance are key to creating greater public confidence. That is set out in recommendation No. 30. We agree, too, about the need for clarity in accountability, set out in recommendation No. 31.
Those issues are fundamental to establishing confidence in the police service, which is why the Government are engaged in a wide-ranging programme of reform and modernisation of policing in Northern Ireland. We have carried through changes to strengthen accountability, clarify roles and responsibilities, and enhance confidence by the passing of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998. For example, as hon. Members have recognised, the establishment of a wholly independent Office of Police Ombudsman is a ground-breaking, confidence-building reform. Its aim is to secure police and public confidence in the impartiality of the new system, and it is unique within the United Kingdom. We are in the process of appointing the ombudsman and hope to make an announcement next month.
Measures to enhance accountability by setting aims and targets for policing and the production of a policing plan were implemented in October 1998. The results of that will be made public next month when the first statutory annual policing plan will be issued by the Police Authority. Other changes clarifying the roles and management responsibilities of the Police Authority, the Chief Constable and the Secretary of State, with consequent benefits for efficiency and effectiveness, are on target to be implemented in April 1999 and are set out in the 1998 Act.
On the subject of accountability, I also welcome the rapid expansion of community and police liaison committees--from some 30 to 100 in the past two years--presided over by the Police Authority and the RUC.
The Committee was also concerned with issues of impartiality and the removal of disincentives for Roman Catholics to join, set out in recommendation No. 3 of the report. As other hon. Members have noted, the flying of the Union flag was an issue, and the Secretary of State said in her response to the Committee that the Chief Constable has brought practice in Northern Ireland into line with that in Great Britain.
On another symbolic issue, measures in the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 to modernise the RUC "oath" were implemented in October last year. The Secretary of State recently laid before Parliament a statement of policing principles agreed between the Secretary of State, the Police Authority and the Chief Constable, highlighting the importance attached to the issue of impartiality.
I want now to deal with the future and the Patten commission. We cannot stand still on an issue as important as policing, but must take a balanced and evolutionary approach. It shows the willingness of the Government and the RUC to embrace sensible change. It is worth noting that some of those who call for the most drastic changes are not prepared to accept change in the spirit of the Good Friday agreement. If the RUC is prepared to embrace change, so should others. Those critics should move away from empty rhetoric and accept the democratic process. There can be no justification for bullying, intimidation and harassment, or for brutal summary justice on the pretext that the RUC is an unacceptable police force. Even if people want to see further changes, that is no excuse for failing to co-operate with the police.
The Committee has, quite properly, expressed its views on what is referred to as "two-tiered" policing. It is not appropriate for me to guess what the commission might recommend, and I suggest that that should be left to the commission to report on. However, the two extremes of no change and total disbandment of the RUC are not likely to be on the commission's agenda, and they are not on the Government's.
The Government's goal is to have the best possible police service for all of the people of Northern Ireland. We want policing that is acceptable and effective; impartial and accountable; truly representative; and takes account of differences within the wider community on this issue.
The focus should be on producing solutions that will meet the practical needs of the people of Northern Ireland, as the Committee has done in its report, rather than based on any sterile, ideological analysis. That is why the Patten commission was set up. It is an independent body that can approach the subject objectively and constructively. Its task is to take us from where we are at present to where it judges we should be in the future.
Change is inevitable and the RUC recognises the need for change. It wants to be a normal police service. How quickly that can be achieved will depend on how long the terrorist threat remains. Even set against the huge sacrifices that the RUC has made over the past three decades, its ambition is to use the skills that it has quietly developed over the years in non-terrorist areas to provide a policing service relevant to everyone in the community.
I have given examples of how the RUC is developing that approach. There are others. For instance, in the international arena officers have recently trained in the United States of America with colleagues from the Garda Siochana, and in April RUC officers will bring their expertise to help the efforts of the United Nation's international task force on policing in Bosnia.
"in the order of less than 8,000 strong".
It would be remiss of me not to conclude by condemning--I know that I do so on behalf of every hon. Member--the dreadful incident in Bessbrook in the early hours of the morning. It is another example of mutilation, beating, torture and intimidation in the Province. A young woman was attacked by eight hooded psychopaths. When they could not find the man whom they were looking for, and with her four young children lying in bed, they inscribed a death threat across her arms and legs. That is a vivid illustration of the dreadful problem of those who have not renounced violence, as the hon. Member for North-East Derbyshire (Mr. Barnes) mentioned.
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