Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008

My Lords, I waded through the order and the explanatory memorandum and found it at times a slightly surreal experience as it entered into areas which I hope most of us have no experience of, and no wish to have it either. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, for his explanation and particularly for clarification of a point that had me slightly puzzled. It seems that there is a general consensus that this is overwhelmingly sensible legislation, and I find myself in difficulty only over the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Morrow. Recently, the luck of the Irish appears to have been running out a little. No one takes any notice of a no vote south of the border, and the people are told, ””Go away, you silly little Irish people. You don’t understand these things. They are much too complex for you””. And now, north of the border, the Government are saying rather the same sort of thing. They acknowledge that the one part of this order which is contentious, the age of consent provision, is strongly opposed, and yet their attitude is to pooh-pooh it. ““Devolution is all right, but only if you do what we want you to do. We don’t take your ““no”” seriously. Of course you will, it is hoped, have responsibility for these things in a year or two, but in the mean time we are going to take decisions against your will””. That is an extraordinarily illogical position to take. The idea that the criminal law has to be the same right across the United Kingdom is obviously absurd. It has been said that the criminal law is different in Scotland, and there are many differences in what the Government see as a proper and appropriate way to administer a country between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The example that sticks in my mind is that the Government do not have convicted terrorists in ministerial office in Great Britain, but seem to think it perfectly all right if that is what the people of Northern Ireland would like. I think that that is an extraordinary position to take. Perhaps they could have a little consistency there as well. The amendment proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Morrow, is sensible, practical and offers no offence whatever to rest of the Kingdom and its criminal law. I hope that the Government will think again about this.