Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Bill

I want to finish this point. On that day, I was sharing lunch with a former sergeant from the Ulster Defence Regiment. He described in graphic detail how he had survived two murder attempts by the IRA. He had managed to get away, and he described his experiences in breathtaking detail. But he also said to me, ““Do not allow this process to go on for ever. I may not like the idea of Unionists sharing power with Sinn Fein, but I think it is time to do it, because they have a mandate. It is time to move forward on the basis that has been decided.”” I hope that the amendments will not be pressed, or that, if they are, they will be defeated. Let me leave the Committee with this thought. There is a real danger that the voters of Northern Ireland will be turned off politics completely, because there is no longer any hope left in politics in Northern Ireland. The opportunity to restore hope lies in the St Andrews agreement, which, I repeat, was signed up to by all the Northern Ireland parties represented here tonight, as well as others. That is the mandate that we were given on which to proceed, that is the prospect for success, and that is the track we are on. If anyone wants to climb off that track, so be it. It will be devolution or dissolution. There will be no shifting at all on any of these dates.