Northern Ireland Assembly Members Bill [HL]

My Lords, I, too, support the amendments in the name of the noble Lords, Lord Glentoran and Lord Smith of Clifton. There are two profound reasons why we have to consider these amendments very seriously. First, as the noble Lord, Lord Smith, has already said, since Second Reading on 1 December these issues have intensified. The issue of double-jobbing is not the essence of the current deepened crisis in the Assembly, but it is part of it. There is no doubt at all that there is a heightened public sensitivity in Northern Ireland about that issue, and it is right that this House should respond to that. There is now a crisis in the Assembly that has got considerably worse, and even a dangerous possibility that there will not be an Assembly drawing salaries of any sort in the near future unless some kind of negotiated breakthrough occurs in the next few days. There is a second reason, which goes along with the point made by the noble Viscount, Lord Brookeborough, about bringing new talent in to the politics of Northern Ireland, which is so difficult to do. It is that during the Parliament that is now coming to an end, we have never had a time in which Northern Ireland Members in the House of Commons have contributed less to the wider issues of debate that affect the United Kingdom as a whole. This is not in any sense a personal condemnation; it is a legacy of a long and complicated peace process. There are very good reasons why that double-jobbing situation developed, going well beyond the aspirations of particular politicians. There is a political context to do with the Troubles that explains it and, to a considerable degree, as far as the recent past is concerned, excuses it. Recently, the Assembly has been up and running. In that context, it is impossible for people to hold important positions or ministerial appointments in that Assembly, and appear in the House of Commons and contribute meaningfully to its work. The consequence has been that, in the past two years particularly, Northern Irish voices are not heard on wider issues of UK policy in this place. It is very important that we face up to the implications of that fact. That is why I support the amendment. It is not just a matter of the questions—now of public concern—about payments to politicians. There is also a more fundamental democratic question about the quality of the representation of Northern Ireland within the Parliament of the United Kingdom.