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Mr. Peter Brooke (Cities of London and Westminster): I concur with the Secretary of State's tributes to Senator Mitchell and to the right hon. Member for Upper Bann (Mr. Trimble). Does he agree that there is no way forward in Northern Ireland without risk and no way forward without courage, and that we must hope that the accuracy of the calibration of risk will be matched by the courage of those involved? However, success will depend on trust. If that trust is not fulfilled, those guilty of disappointing that trust will be guilty also of taking the whole process back to square one, if not further back.
Mr. Mandelson: I agree entirely with the right hon. Gentleman. There are risks involved in moving ahead. Certainly those who are responsible for setting up the Executive and implementing devolution will carry enormous responsibility. However, I have no doubt that whatever position I take or whatever attitude the Governments take to the functioning of the Executive, the Executive would collapse itself--without my having to suspend it--if a political crisis were created as a result of decommissioning not taking place.
Trust is at the heart of the operation of all the steps set out today and all the progress that we want to see in the weeks and months to come. Nothing would impair or threaten that trust more than if people's expectations of what will follow in relation to decommissioning were dashed at the last moment.
Mr. John D. Taylor (Strangford):
The Secretary of State said that Unionists must show courage and take a jump of faith, but many Unionists feel that they are being
Many Unionists are hesitant because they do not know what will happen if there is failure. It is wrong to say that we are not planning for failure; we know that there could be failure. Members of the majority community in Northern Ireland need to know what the position will be if there is failure. When they have reassurances on that, they might go with this, but until then the process is in real trouble.
Mr. Mandelson:
I am interested in the right hon. Gentleman's remarks. It is important to note that he does not quibble with or oppose fundamentally the negotiated deal and way forward that are the outcome of the Mitchell review. I am grateful to him for making a clear distinction between the fundamentals of what has been negotiated and agreed and the additional assurances that people will need in order to summon the courage to go forward.
I hope that I have contributed this afternoon to providing those reassurances and I would be very happy to meet the right hon. Gentleman and any of his colleagues should they want to put further questions to me about exactly how I envisage the developments and events of the next few weeks and months unfolding.
We are justified in planning for success but that does not mean that we are not providing for failure. The right hon. Gentleman will have noted carefully what I said about that point. It is not right to say that we are jumping into the dark. We are taking some risks, but they are all carefully calculated and controlled and will remain under the control of the parties and the Governments and, above all, of the Assembly itself.
The right hon. Gentleman talked about my excluding Sinn Fein from the Executive in the event of the IRA failing to decommission to the satisfaction of the de Chastelain commission, but it is up to the Assembly, not me, to take that action. In the event of those circumstances arising, I would certainly move to suspend the operation of the Executive but it would then be for the Assembly and all the Members and parties in it to take what action they think appropriate.
We will not necessarily punish all parties in the event of a default. Effectively, all parties are being punished at the moment through the failure to set up the Executive and our inability to make a reality of devolution and satisfactorily to implement the Good Friday agreement as a whole. In the current situation, it is not possible to say clearly where responsibility for those failures lies; but if default occurred it would be only too clear where the responsibility lay. That would represent a considerable move forward and provide a helpful basis for our resolving the situation and rectifying the default in ways that I and all the parties consider appropriate and possible.
Mrs. Maria Fyfe (Glasgow, Maryhill):
Does my right hon. Friend agree that considerable courage has been shown on both sides in Northern Ireland to get where we are today, and that the progress that has been made should
Mr. Mandelson:
I entirely share the sentiment expressed by my hon. Friend. The achievements of the past 11 weeks have shown that it is politics that work, not violence. That is what the agreement is all about and what the Mitchell review demonstrates. That is a message that I shall drive home with all the communication skills available to me.
Mr. Tom King (Bridgwater):
The House will have noted the Secretary of State's confidence and that of Senator Mitchell that the Good Friday agreement can now be delivered in full, and those of us who have worked in any way on the process will wish profoundly that that will prove to be the case. Will he accept the wise warning from my right hon. Friend the Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Major)--that this is a time of real hope, but also undoubtedly a time of considerable danger? Certain groups at both ends of the spectrum offer no good will to the agreement and will find no comfort in an accommodation in Northern Ireland. Whatever the views of the Governments, the issue is now for the people of Northern Ireland to resolve, with our good wishes and our confidence that if they can find the accommodation that we seek for them, the future can be bright.
Mr. Mandelson:
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his comments, which are shrewd and based on much personal experience in Northern Ireland. He is right to remind us of the colossal public support that exists for the Good Friday agreement. That was tested at the time of the referendum and, more recently, in successive opinion polls. At the time of the referendum, more then 70 per cent. of people in Northern Ireland endorsed the Good Friday agreement. According to a recent, valid, properly conducted opinion poll, and despite all the frustrations, problems and delays of the past 18 months, that percentage has barely slipped. People in Northern Ireland overwhelmingly want to see the agreement implemented, because they know that on it rest their futures, their prosperity, their peace and the possibility that their children can remain in Northern Ireland as leaders instead of becoming exiles. That is why they are crying out for the politicians to implement the agreement and to make the progress that has been agreed in the Mitchell review.
Ms Margaret Moran (Luton, South):
I join in the congratulations to my right hon. Friend and all the parties on the progress made to date, especially the prospect of rapid devolution. I also congratulate my right hon. Friend on his wisdom in selecting the Women's Coalition conference for discussion of the progress of the review. Does he wish to comment on the role that the smaller parties, such as the Women's Coalition, played during the
Mr. Mandelson:
My hon. Friend makes a valid point. Before I mention the smaller parties, however, I wish to put on record my appreciation of the role played by the Social Democratic and Labour party throughout the negotiations and, indeed, the entire peace process. All the values underpinning the Good Friday agreement, and all the good will that has driven forward the Mitchell review, are encapsulated in what the SDLP stands for and what their leaders have contributed throughout the entire process.
My hon. Friend was right, too, to acknowledge the contribution made by the smaller parties. It was a delight for me to go, on Saturday, to the annual conference of the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition to make my announcement. Ever so occasionally, their enthusiasm got slightly in the way of the neat delivery of the soundbites that I had carefully prepared--but I do not mind a bit of chanting and jumping on seats interrupting the polished delivery of my speeches if it demonstrates the enormous tide of good will and public support for implementation of the Good Friday agreement.
Mr. Ken Maginnis (Fermanagh and South Tyrone):
I welcome the Secretary of State's statement. As someone who has been a Member of this place for 16 and a half years, and felt alienated from this place for 14 of those years--since the Anglo-Irish agreement--I find this an exciting and hopeful time. I hope that getting rid of the Anglo-Irish agreement and the Irish Republic's territorial claim will provide us the platform that will enable us to move forward.
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