Terrorism (Northern Ireland) Bill

The hon. Lady is quite correct. She has been present in the House when I have said on more than one occasion that the decommissioning of weapons should not be regarded as a concession but as a basic minimum requirement of any party that hopes to be taken seriously in the democratic process. I agree with what she said. Throughout the debate, especially since 1997 to 1998, there has been an almost unspoken threat or intimidation when dealing with paramilitaries on both sides. The suggestion was that we ought to make political progress because if we did not X, Y and Z might return to violence. I do not accept that any of the so-called concessions by the Government are based on that threat but, nevertheless, the debate on Northern Ireland has been conducted under a thinly veiled threat of a return to violence by the main paramilitaries. If that is indeed the case, it must end now. There is no longer any excuse for suggesting that political progress must be achieved at the end of a barrel. The hon. Member for Aylesbury referred to the possible disbandment of the IRA, and I sympathise with his concerns. He will understand that the demand for the IRA to disband was not included in the Belfast agreement.