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NORTHERN IRELAND (MONITORING COMMISSION ETC.) BILL [LORDS] [MONEY]
Queen's recommendation having been signified—
Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 52(1)(a)(Money resolutions and ways and means resolutions in connection with Bills),
- That, for the purposes of any Act resulting from the Northern Ireland (Monitoring Commission etc.) Bill [Lords], it is expedient to authorise the payment out of money provided by Parliament of—
(a) any expenditure incurred by the Secretary of State under the Act, and
(b) any amount refunded under the Act in respect of any tax or duty. [Derek Twigg.]
NORTHERN IRELAND (MONITORING COMMISSION ETC.) BILL [LORDS] [WAYS AND MEANS]
Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 52(1)(a) (Money resolutions and ways and means resolutions in connection with Bills),
- That, for the purposes of any Act resulting from the Northern Ireland (Monitoring Commission etc.) Bill [Lords], it is expedient to authorise such incidental charges to inheritance tax as may arise from granting any relief from tax provided for by the Act. [Derek Twigg.]
Bill immediately considered in Committee, pursuant to Order [this day].
[Sir Michael Lord in the Chair]
Clause 1
8.55 pm
Mr. Gregory Campbell : I beg to move amendment No. 64, in page 1, line 4, leave out from 'established' in line 1 to 'to' in line 6.
The Second Deputy Chairman: With this, it will be convenient to discuss the following:
Amendment No. 55, in page 1, line 8, leave out from beginning to end of line 11.
Amendment No. 1, in page 1, line 11, at end insert—
'(1A) But, notwithstanding the provisions of that agreement, the Monitoring Commission shall consist of two members only, who shall be appointed by Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, and of whom one shall be from Northern Ireland.'.
Amendment No. 65, in page 1, line 12, at end insert
'( ) establish the Monitoring Commission'.
Amendment No. 66, in page 2, line 21, at end add—
'(b) The Commission shall be appointed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.'.
New clause 3—Requisition of Report from Monitoring Commission—
'.—When requested to do so by any party represented in the Northern Ireland Assembly to make a report on—
(a) paramilitary activity, or
(b) whether a Minister or another party in the Assembly is not committed to non-violence and exclusively peaceful and democratic means,
the Monitoring Commission shall do so within fourteen days.'.
Mr. Campbell: Amendment No. 64 would restore the rightful role of this, the Parliament of the United Kingdom. As was said on Second Reading, there is a feeling not only among many people in Northern Ireland but among many Northern Ireland Members that that role has been somewhat usurped. Having been raised initially by the hon. Member for Thurrock
(Andrew Mackinlay), the issue was then raised by several others. It was felt that Parliament ought to establish the monitoring commission and ensure not only that it has been established but that its composition is appropriate; any further scrutiny could be conducted through the parliamentary process.The genesis of the commission's establishment has been dealt with at length today. It is, of course, rooted in the abject failure over the past five and a half years to deal adequately with the problem of having a terrorist-related political party in government, and the inability either to proceed against that terrorist-related party or to remove it from government without using the proverbial sledgehammer to ensure that all the democrats get a sore head as well.
The problem has been highlighted in the past 12 months by the suspension of the Assembly. The problem has been compounded by the inadequacy of the voting mechanism to remove the terrorist-related party, namely Sinn Fein-IRA, which is obviously regrettable.
Amendment No. 64 is very similar to amendment No. 1, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for South Antrim (David Burnside). We shall not seek to divide the Committee on amendment 64, in the knowledge that my hon. Friend will do so on amendment No. 1.
Amendment No. 55 was also referred to on Second Reading. A number of Members mentioned the Bill's apparent inability to deal with an IRA breach. We have witnessed several breaches in the past five years, and many Members have alluded to the fact that if devolution is restored, we could well face several more. Of course, the problem with the independent monitoring commission—amendment No. 55 attempts to address it—is that such breaches will be very difficult to define, and to relate specifically to the Provisional IRA and, consequently, to its political affiliate, Sinn Fein.
9 pm
Let us imagine that a security breach occurs, and that the Chief Constable and the security services indicate that, in their opinion, the Provisional IRA is to blame. If the IMC investigates the complaint that would doubtless be levelled—by an Assembly Member or by someone else wishing to complain—vagueness and greyness could well arise, whereby the Provisional IRA's leadership were not told that they in fact sanctioned action against the innocent civilian or security forces member who was targeted.
On the other hand, there are those of us who believe that if the Bill is not amended in this respect, a fig leaf may remain. Some Unionists could pass the buck for security breaches to the IMC, in the belief that it will be difficult, if not impossible, for the IMC definitively to say that the Provisional IRA was responsible for such an action, that it sanctioned it at an official level and that the following sanctions should apply. Of course, those who would wish to use that fig leaf would then say, "We tried our best. We established the IMC and we left the issue with it, but it has not been sufficiently precise, clear and definitive for the sanctions to be applied." They could then decide to proceed in government with those terrorists, as they have in the past. They could try to
hold their hands up as if they were clean, yet they would be sitting in government with those who support terror and murder.Amendment No. 1 deals with the fact that the monitoring commission ought to consist only of members appointed from within the United Kingdom. In the circumstances, it also seems reasonable that one of the two members appointed be from Northern Ireland. As was debated at some length on Second Reading, the difficulty is that if the Bill is not amended and someone from the Irish Republic is appointed to a position that enables them to have an input into the internal affairs of Northern Ireland, that would constitute a clear breach of Northern Ireland's internal politics. The amendment seeks to rectify that.
Amendment No. 65 deals with the establishment of the monitoring commission and the principle of parliamentary sovereignty. If the monitoring commission is not established and approved by the UK Parliament, as outlined in the amendment, the charge will be laid that the Irish Republic is exerting an influence that heretofore the people of Northern Ireland have not had to bear.
Other amendments are consequential. Amendment No. 66 proposes that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland should appoint the monitoring commission. Again, if that were not the case, we would be in serious breach of what was previously termed the strand 1 position in the run-up to the Belfast agreement.
New clause 3 deals with a significant omission in the Bill, proposing a specific time frame within which action should be taken by the commission. The new clause specifies "within fourteen days". We preface the provision with the word "shall" do so within that period. As with previous breaches, we believe that unless action is taken immediately, there will undoubtedly, as in the past few years, be delay and prevarication. The commencement of legal proceedings will then enter the frame and evidently there will be a prolonged delay in dealing with the issue. We know about what happened in Colombia, which has been ongoing for a prolonged period and the issue is likely to continue into the next calendar year, so we want a specific timetable so that the general public can have some confidence that their concerns are being dealt with expeditiously. Failure to do so would lead to the belief that the Government, perhaps even the commission, had tried to sweep the matter under the carpet in the hope that it would not see the light of day.
I have explained the reasons for our proposed amendments and we hope and expect to receive some support from across the Chamber.
Mr. Carmichael: I want to put on record succinctly the Liberal Democrat position on the amendments. In our view, they are all essentially wrecking amendments, given the way in which the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr. Campbell) and his colleagues voted on Second Reading. It is, of course, perfectly legitimate for them to table wrecking amendments at this stage, but I am afraid that we cannot be party to them.
Andrew Mackinlay : I am truly bewildered. I listened carefully to what the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr. Campbell) said. On the narrow but
important issue of there being some time scale, I thought that he expressed an entirely reasonable point of view. I am surprised to hear the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael) describe the measure as a wrecking amendment. It seems eminently sensible and I hope that the Minister will pick up on it.
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