Terrorism (Northern Ireland) Bill

I agree entirely with my hon. Friend, who makes an extremely important point, which was the subject of some exchanges earlier when the hon. Member for Glasgow, South was speaking. He said that we should not get hung up on the issue of disbandment, but some of us made the point that both the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in the Irish Republic and the former leader of the SDLP, John Hume, were seeking disbandment and the dismantling of the criminal structures of the IRA. It is right and proper that that should happen. There has never been any justification for the retention of terrorist structures, so what possible justification can there be for the retention of terrorist structures and for the retention of the IRA as an organisation if, as we are told by Gerry Adams and his friends, the war is over and Unionists have nothing to worry about? That is not a small matter; it is not a matter of semantics. My hon. Friend is right to point out that it is important, so in January and in the weeks and months thereafter, Unionists in Northern Ireland, and indeed the entire community in Northern Ireland—not just Unionists—must make that clear. Many people from the Roman Catholic and nationalist traditions come to my constituency advice centres in Belfast, North and say to me, ““For goodness’sake, don’t let these people who have murdered and tortured us for years and who have been parasites on our communities get away with it. They are transforming themselves from overt terrorists and calling themselves by another name so that they can enforce justice in our community.”” For that reason, I entirely agree with the approach taken by the hon. Member for Foyle in his comments on community restorative justice. There is deep concern throughout communities in Belfast, North and other parts of Belfast, and indeed throughout the entire Province, about the notion that although terrorists may not get their hands on the levers of power through Sinn Fein Members becoming Ministers or joint Ministers at Stormont, they may be able to get their hands on the levers of policing and justice locally through community restorative justice programmes and projects. Certainly in republican areas such programmes are being seen as, used as and advertised as an alternative to the normal, regular policing system. There is deep concern, and the Minister must realise that it will cause enormous anger and anguish if there is any suggestion that there would be funding or official sanction or approval for those community restorative justice programmes if they do not fully operate within the normal policing and criminal justice structures, with full co-operation with the police and referrals by statutory agencies and the police, as happens in other civilised countries. To suggest that the sort of programmes that Sinn Fein-IRA are running could be legitimised would cause enormous offence, and would be rejected by the decent people of Northern Ireland, just as the obnoxious proposal for an amnesty for on-the-runs is rejected by decent people across the board. I again use the mantra of caution to which so many Members have referred. Why do the Government feel compelled to deliver on that pledge made to Sinn Fein-IRA as part of the joint declaration? The DUP was certainly not party to it. The Government should recognise that circumstances have changed and that parties which, in the words of the Secretary of State, endorsed the joint declaration—the pro-agreement parties—no longer speak for the majority, certainly on the Unionist side. They speak only for a small minority of Unionists in Northern Ireland and the Government should recognise that. I regret the fact that the hon. Member for North Down (Lady Hermon) has left the Chamber and is not making a contribution to the debate. She tried to defend her party’s role in the joint declaration, and suggested that there was a difference between being consulted and what the Secretary of State referred to as the pro-agreement endorsement of the terms of the joint declaration. Even at the time, Ministers described the joint declaration, which includes disbandment of the home battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, the run-down in security and the so-called normalisation process and, as an annexe, provisions for an amnesty for on-the-runs, as a shared understanding among the parties. The Government said again today that the parties endorsed it, but we certainly did not; we opposed it and we continue to do so. We shall not take lectures from the Ulster Unionist party, which has connived with the Government over the years to allow Sinn Fein-IRA into government on so many occasions following concessions to which it was a party. As a result, the Ulster Unionists have been rejected overwhelmingly by the people of Northern Ireland. We welcome the Bill. It keeps on the statute book important legislative provisions, which is right and proper, because the terrorist threat has not gone away. The Government should take the same approach to other vital issues in Northern Ireland that affect its people deeply. The Government should think again about those matters before it is too late.