Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 (Specified Organisations) Order 2008

Let us be clear on this. I know that my voice is not perfect. I recently went on an overseas trip for the Government to save the whales in Chile and I caught a bug on the plane. So far, I have referred only to the UVF. I have not referred to any other organisation. I make it absolutely clear that I have been referring to the UVF, the Red Hand Commando and Óglaigh na hEireann, which I was trained to say a few days ago. I have not referred to any other organisation. I want to make that clear for noble Lords and for Hansard. I turn to the detail of the questions. I shall not take too long on this but it is important because we are about to go into the Recess. The noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, asked why we were despecifying the UVF when it had not really decommissioned. That is absolutely clear. We took the decision to despecify the UVF and the Red Hand Commando after carefully considering the test laid down in the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998. As I said, that decision was reached in consultation with the Security Service and the chief constable. We strongly believe that the UVF has met the threshold for despecification. The May 2007 statement was a very positive step and we are satisfied that the UVF has made sufficient progress since then to enable despecification. I make it abundantly clear that we shall not hesitate to respecify if there is any change in the UVF’s activities. Decommissioning is one of the elements taken into account when considering despecification. However, it is not the only factor to be taken into account in making the decision in the round. The UVF must go on to decommission, but we are satisfied that it has done enough to be despecified at this point. The list of specified organisations is kept under review and, if necessary, we will not hesitate to respecify any organisation. In its 18th report, the IMC recommended that the Government consider the issue of despecification, and the Secretary of State has done so and reached his decision. It did not recommend us not to despecify. We are committed to decommissioning as a central part of the political process. We want the total and verifiable decommissioning of all paramilitary arms at the earliest possible moment, and an end to the old vestiges of paramilitarism. The UVF statement of May 2007 shows a strong desire by the leadership to address the issue of weapons. However, more must be done than putting all ordnance beyond reach, and the path laid down for decommissioning must be followed in due course. Normal society cannot have the long-term presence of institutions such as the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, as I have said. That is the legal route to decommissioning. If that organisation is not there, there is no legal route to decommissioning, and the full consequences of that must be apparent to the relevant organisations. Our patience is getting thin. The structures are time-limited and will not be there for ever, so they had best make haste to decommission while it is legal to do so.