UK Parliament / Open data

Northern Ireland Bill

Debate on bills on Wednesday, 26 April 2006, in the House of Commons, led by Lord Hain. The answering member was David Lidington.
Northern Ireland Bill. Second reading debate. Agreed to on question and committed to a Committee of the Whole House
Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
445 c597-677 
Session
2005-06
Department
Northern Ireland Office
Legislative stage
Second reading
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Northern Ireland Bill . Explanatory notes Bill 169-EN also published (vote)
Thursday, 20 April 2006
Bills
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions
Lord Hain | 445 c602, (corrigendum) 814 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman disputes that, because I believe that the facts speak for themsel...
Speaker | 445 c619 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before I call the next speaker, I remind the House that Mr. Speaker has placed a 15-minute li...

Show all contributions (165)
Lord Hain | 445 c598-9 (Link to this contribution) I have already done that but I am happy to accept the hon. Gentleman’s invitation to emphasise and u...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 445 c598 (Link to this contribution) Further to the point that my right hon. Friend the Member for North Antrim (Rev. Ian Paisley) made w...
Lord Hain | 445 c597-8 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I cannot reassure the hon. Gentleman about that. The Bill sets the date in statute....
Lembit Opik | 445 c598 (Link to this contribution) I was grateful to the Secretary of State for his response in Northern Ireland questions about deadli...
Lord Hain | 445 c598 (Link to this contribution) The Northern Ireland Assembly as set up under the 1998 Act remains in suspension. Once the date has ...
Lord Hain | 445 c597 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. The measure prepares the way for the restor...
Lord Cormack | 445 c597 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State has, for understandable reasons, played around with dates a lot recently. How...
Lord Hain | 445 c597 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. The Assembly that the Bill defines is not the Assembly as defined under the Northern Ireland...
Lord Hain | 445 c600 (Link to this contribution) I very much agree with my hon. Friend’s point. It is important to note from the IMC report that the ...
Gordon Banks | 445 c600 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that the IMC report published today throws down a significant challe...
Lord Hain | 445 c600 (Link to this contribution) I am answering the question put by the hon. Member for South Antrim (Dr. McCrea), but after that, of...
Jeffrey M Donaldson | 445 c600 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Lord Hain | 445 c600 (Link to this contribution) I can only take the IMC’s word for this. The independent report makes it absolutely clear that the l...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | 445 c600 (Link to this contribution) The IMC report refers to ““some senior members”” of the IRA. We are not talking about the ordinary m...
Lord Hain | 445 c599-600 (Link to this contribution) Let me finish the point and then I shall gladly give way. Paragraph 2.14 is important to answering ...
Lord Hain | 445 c599 (Link to this contribution) Because I rely on what the IMC says. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will want to study what it sa...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | 445 c599 (Link to this contribution) The IMC report states that"““some members, including some senior ones . . . are still involved in cr...
David Simpson | 445 c602 (Link to this contribution) Is it not a well-known fact in Northern Ireland that the Provisional IRA controls all the republican...
Lord Hain | 445 c602 (Link to this contribution) Yes, but the hon. Gentleman knows that the Continuity IRA is a split-off from the Provisional IRA—
Lord Cormack | 445 c600-1 (Link to this contribution) I accept the point that the Secretary of State has just made. Of course there has been an enormous c...
Lord Cormack | 445 c601 (Link to this contribution) I have acknowledged that point. There has been a remarkable change, but there is still comprehensive...
Lord Hain | 445 c601 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point and I am not going to argue with him about that. However, I am...
Jeffrey M Donaldson | 445 c601 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State will understand the concern on this side of the House. Of course we recognise...
Lord Hain | 445 c601 (Link to this contribution) As I have said, I am not going to argue that point with the hon. Gentleman. At Question Time, I refe...
Lord Bannside | 445 c601-2 (Link to this contribution) Mr. Adams did not condemn the man who has been mentioned here. He said that he was a decent farmer, ...
Lord Hain | 445 c603 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has acknowledged that, as the right hon. Member for North Antrim (Rev. Ian Paisle...
Lady Hermon | 445 c660 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Jeffrey M Donaldson | 445 c660 (Link to this contribution) I welcome this Bill, which is a means to an end, not an end in itself. I understand the concerns rai...
Sammy Wilson | 445 c663-4 (Link to this contribution) I, too, will seek to abide by the time-sharing arrangements that have all-party support here today. ...
Jeffrey M Donaldson | 445 c660-3 (Link to this contribution) I will not, because some of my hon. Friends want to get in before the debate concludes. This has be...
Sammy Wilson | 445 c664-5 (Link to this contribution) I would have been more than happy to, but because of the time constraint I will not. If we could hav...
Mark Durkan | 445 c664 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Sammy Wilson | 445 c665 (Link to this contribution) So it was a Farren tax. Of course, it covered the infrastructure for water and sewerage, which are n...
Mark Durkan | 445 c665 (Link to this contribution) I remind the hon. Gentleman that before devolution, the comprehensive spending review under direct r...
Sammy Wilson | 445 c665 (Link to this contribution) No, I shall not give way. The hon. Gentleman’s earlier intervention was quite short. I remember havi...
David Simpson | 445 c666-7 (Link to this contribution) I have listened with great interest to the debate and know that all my colleagues have made valid po...
David Simpson | 445 c668 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Secretary of State. May I finish by saying—[Interruption.] We will negotiate after this ...
Lord Hain | 445 c667-8 (Link to this contribution) I received a delegation, as the hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Mr. Donaldson) mentioned, and it was i...
David Simpson | 445 c667 (Link to this contribution) We have talked about the dissidents, which is a lose word. Such information must not be passed on to...
Gordon Banks | 445 c671 (Link to this contribution) The IMC report published today makes the point that the majority of forced exiles are loyalists, not...
Laurence Robertson | 445 c668-71 (Link to this contribution) We have had an extremely interesting debate on yet another Northern Ireland Bill, which was, yet aga...
David Simpson | 445 c668 (Link to this contribution) We will arrange an interview. In conclusion, I personally want to see things move on in Northern Ir...
Lord Cormack | 445 c668 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State is on probation.
Laurence Robertson | 445 c671 (Link to this contribution) I do not disagree, but those people are not represented by a political party that will assume Govern...
Lord Cormack | 445 c671 (Link to this contribution) Not only is the situation that my hon. Friend outlines manifestly unfair; it would be illegal.
Laurence Robertson | 445 c672 (Link to this contribution) Totally illegal, as my hon. Friend observes. I shall close now, to give the Minister a chance to re...
Meg Hillier | 445 c646-7 (Link to this contribution) I hear what the hon. Gentleman says, but even during the six-month period, we need to make progress....
Lord Cormack | 445 c646 (Link to this contribution) If it were delayed until November and if failure resulted at that time, all I am suggesting is that ...
David Winnick | 445 c649 (Link to this contribution) I intervene because the impression may be given that the DUP has some sort of monopoly on combating ...
Gregory Campbell | 445 c647-9 (Link to this contribution) In debating the possible future of the Northern Ireland Assembly, it is absolutely imperative that t...
Peter Robinson | 445 c642-5 (Link to this contribution) It might be useful if I begin by saying that my colleagues and I have entered into a pact; we will s...
Gregory Campbell | 445 c649-50 (Link to this contribution) I fully accept the hon. Gentleman’s repeated opposition to the use of violence. However, I have to c...
Peter Robinson | 445 c653 (Link to this contribution) I wanted to make six further points in my speech, one of which concerned elections. If the hon. Lady...
Lady Hermon | 445 c652-3 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to be called to speak on the Second Reading of such an important Bill. As the Minister...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 445 c655-8 (Link to this contribution) No, because we have limited time and we have agreed sensibly to allow as many hon. Members as possib...
Lady Hermon | 445 c655 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 445 c655 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Strangford (Mrs. Robinson), who clearly set...
Iris Robinson | 445 c654-5 (Link to this contribution) I shall say only a few words and leave my colleagues to deal with the nitty-gritty of the measure an...
Laurence Robertson | 445 c653 (Link to this contribution) I apologise to the hon. Lady for missing the beginning of her speech. I have tabled an amendment for...
Lady Hermon | 445 c653 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the hon. Gentleman for putting that on the record. I look forward with bated b...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | 445 c659-60 (Link to this contribution) No. I have only a short time in which to make my speech. Can anyone imagine the howls from the comm...
Jim Devine | 445 c659 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | 445 c658-9 (Link to this contribution) Some time ago, our party released a document called ““Facing Reality””. This House is beginning to f...
Lord Hanson of Flint | 445 c674-6 (Link to this contribution) Let us see what happens. I believe that progress is being made and will continue to be made, and tha...
Lord Hanson of Flint | 445 c676-7 (Link to this contribution) I cannot because of lack of time. We have delayed the election for one year, not to meddle with demo...
Lord Hanson of Flint | 445 c672-4 (Link to this contribution) The debate has been largely good-tempered, which I cannot often say about Northern Ireland debates i...
David Winnick | 445 c674 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend reinforce a point that I made in an earlier intervention? Those of us who want t...
Lord Hanson of Flint | 445 c674 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has highlighted that very clearly, and I support him in his objective. In the meantim...
Lord Cormack | 445 c674 (Link to this contribution) I entirely accept what the Minister says. As a logical consequence of that, should not he convey cle...
David Lidington | 445 c617-8 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely. The third challenge, which is a challenge not only for the republican movement bu...
Lady Hermon | 445 c613 (Link to this contribution) How is it that Her Majesty’s loyal Opposition can support a Bill that gives the Secretary of State f...
Gregory Campbell | 445 c614 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has described, movingly and poignantly, the difficulties faced by his party and the r...
David Lidington | 445 c613-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady has put her finger on one of the aspects that I hope the House will probe in detail in...
Lord Cormack | 445 c615 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a typically thoughtful and excellent speech, and he has touched on the refu...
David Lidington | 445 c614-5 (Link to this contribution) I welcome that intervention, because the hon. Gentleman demonstrates that the DUP is prepared to loo...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | 445 c616 (Link to this contribution) Before the hon. Gentleman moves away from republican terrorism, may I ask him a question? The Contin...
David Lidington | 445 c615-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. We are looking for more than words: we need evidence that will allow us to ...
Sammy Wilson | 445 c617 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the crime referred to in paragraph 2.20 was a crime executed in ...
David Lidington | 445 c616-7 (Link to this contribution) That is exactly one of those questions that we shall have to continue to observe very carefully in f...
Mark Durkan | 445 c628-31 (Link to this contribution) Government Ministers know that we believe that the proposals for which the Bill provides do not go f...
Lembit Opik | 445 c628 (Link to this contribution) I look forward to hearing other speakers, too. More than anything, the Minister can be assured that...
Lord Campbell of Pittenweem | 445 c628 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I owe the House an unqualified apology. At Prime Minister’s...
Jeffrey M Donaldson | 445 c631 (Link to this contribution) Changing the resignation of the Deputy First Minister.
Lembit Opik | 445 c627-8 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted that we violently agree. Actions speak louder than words, and I hope that we can have...
Lord Cormack | 445 c628 (Link to this contribution) At this rate we will still be here.
Lembit Opik | 445 c627 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes her point, and other hon. Members make their points. On this occasion, we think ...
Lord Hanson of Flint | 445 c627 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will know that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has written to him and...
David Anderson | 445 c636 (Link to this contribution) I certainly agree with my hon. Friend and I wish that the people of the north-east had been given a ...
Lord Cormack | 445 c637-8 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to follow the hon. Member for Blaydon (Mr. Anderson), who serves on the Select Commit...
Lord Cormack | 445 c638-40 (Link to this contribution) They are indeed. Because of the demography of Northern Ireland and the sad history of recent decade...
Huw Irranca-Davies | 445 c641-2 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to speak, if only briefly, in this debate. I wish to take the opportunity to make a few...
Speaker | 445 c631 (Link to this contribution) Order. I ask hon. Members not to engage in obtrusive sedentary comments. It does not help the debate...
Mark Durkan | 445 c631-2 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. In his remarks the Secretary of State spoke of the prospect that wou...
Lord Bannside | 445 c632-4 (Link to this contribution) This Bill provides for an Assembly in Northern Ireland, and my party and I welcome that. This propos...
David Anderson | 445 c634-6 (Link to this contribution) Unlike my right hon. Friend the Member for Torfaen (Mr. Murphy), I had the great privilege of having...
Lord Murphy of Torfaen | 445 c621-2 (Link to this contribution) It certainly would be one of the best birthday presents that I could have if we saw the restoration ...
Lord Murphy of Torfaen | 445 c619-21 (Link to this contribution) The debate has been interesting so far and I am sure it will continue to be so. I certainly welcome...
David Lidington | 445 c618-9 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. I conclude by wishing the Government and the Northern Ireland parties well in the negotiati...
Peter Robinson | 445 c618 (Link to this contribution) Is not it true that Unionists would be bereft of an argument if it was ever believed that they were ...
David Lidington | 445 c618 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. If the war is over, what purpose does the army serve? That is a challenge to which I have ye...
Lord Cormack | 445 c618 (Link to this contribution) Is not there a simple answer? For Sinn Fein to disband the IRA.
David Lidington | 445 c618 (Link to this contribution) Alongside support for the police, disbandment of the IRA is probably the single gesture that would m...
Lembit Opik | 445 c627 (Link to this contribution) I will give way, but I hope that we do not go too far from the content of the Bill.
Lady Hermon | 445 c627 (Link to this contribution) Just in case there is any confusion or doubt, I am a very poor lookalike for the former right hon. M...
Lady Hermon | 445 c626 (Link to this contribution) Not only did the hon. Gentleman not please me in his response to my first intervention, but I am sur...
Lembit Opik | 445 c626 (Link to this contribution) No, it is not. It is a judgment. The hon. Lady asked a serious question and I will give her a seriou...
Jeffrey M Donaldson | 445 c626 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman should be aware that when I was a member of the Ulster Unionist party, the then l...
Lembit Opik | 445 c626-7 (Link to this contribution) I remember making common cause with the Democratic Unionist party on that occasion, and saying that ...
Lembit Opik | 445 c622-4 (Link to this contribution) I would like to thank the Secretary of State for introducing the Bill and for his inclusive approach...
Lady Hermon | 445 c624 (Link to this contribution) Just to assist the hon. Gentleman, who, unfortunately, has pledged his support for the Bill, let me ...
Lembit Opik | 445 c624-6 (Link to this contribution) That is why I asked the question. Surely that should not be the case. If it is the case—this is why ...
Lord Hain | 445 c604 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to repeat what I think that I said last week in my statement. There is no question of joi...
Peter Robinson | 445 c604 (Link to this contribution) Part of the UVF’s reasoning for its delaying statement was the threat implied, if not explicitly, in...
Lord Hain | 445 c603-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point; that the UVF, Ulster Defence Association and loyalist paramilitar...
Gordon Banks | 445 c603 (Link to this contribution) How damaging does the Secretary of State feel that the statement by the Ulster Volunteer Force that ...
Lord Hain | 445 c603 (Link to this contribution) The IMC report published today shows—I hope that the hon. Gentleman will read all of it if he has no...
Tobias Ellwood | 445 c603 (Link to this contribution) I served in Northern Ireland and was aware of the progress made in bringing the IRA to the table and...
Mark Durkan | 445 c604 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps in a slip of the tongue, the Secretary of State referred to ““whatever honourable motivation...
Lord Hain | 445 c607-8 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry; I am always reluctant to disagree with the hon. Lady, but I do not regret it at all. A b...
Lembit Opik | 445 c608 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State has made an interesting point. Will he confirm, for the sake of absolute clar...
Lord Hain | 445 c608 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right, and I am grateful for the opportunity that he has given me to spell out...
Lord Hain | 445 c604-5 (Link to this contribution) The message is crystal clear; that they should close down their paramilitary activity and gangsteris...
Lembit Opik | 445 c605 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State is right that I am interested in the finding regarding intelligence. For clar...
Lady Hermon | 445 c606-7 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State confess that it is regrettable that the new creature created by the Bill...
Lord Hain | 445 c608 (Link to this contribution) I give way to a Member of the Assembly whom I invite to be precisely that.
Lord Hain | 445 c608-9 (Link to this contribution) That may or may not be true of a couple of important issues, but let us consider education policy, i...
Sammy Wilson | 445 c608 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State not also accept that the converse is true? The more that he pushes throu...
Lord Hain | 445 c610 (Link to this contribution) I could not agree more with my hon. Friend; she has expressed herself eloquently and forcefully. It ...
Rosie Cooper | 445 c609-10 (Link to this contribution) I genuinely understand the situation in which Northern Ireland Members find themselves, but this is ...
Speaker | 445 c610 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Lady must sit down. We should not have interventions from a sedentary position, and ...
Eddie McGrady | 445 c609 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Secretary of State for giving way. He is talking about an issue of fundamental importanc...
Lord Hain | 445 c609 (Link to this contribution) I assume that the hon. Gentleman is thinking of the review of public administration and local govern...
Lord Cormack | 445 c609 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the Secretary of State, who, as always, is very courteous in giving way. Would...
Lord Hain | 445 c610 (Link to this contribution) No, I am afraid that I cannot. Its task is to restore the Executive, which it can do on day one, two...
Lady Hermon | 445 c610 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way. Will he clarify one small point? This n...
Lord Hain | 445 c610 (Link to this contribution) I realise, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that I have been speaking for a long time. That is because I have tak...
Speaker | 445 c610 (Link to this contribution) Order. I reinforce the point that the Secretary of State has made. A number of hon. and right hon. M...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | 445 c610 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. Surely the financial black hole to which he referre...
Lord Hain | 445 c610-2 (Link to this contribution) I put it to the hon. Gentleman absolutely straightforwardly—I hope that he will not take this in the...
Lord Hain | 445 c612-3 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that hundreds of millions of pounds is anything like correct. The hon. Gentleman may w...
David Lidington | 445 c613 (Link to this contribution) We shall support the Bill. If there is a Division this evening, it is my intention to vote with the ...
Lord Hain | 445 c605-6 (Link to this contribution) That is exactly my interpretation of what the IMC says. In relation to the statement that any inform...
Lord Hain | 445 c609 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that, for a variety of reasons, that is not possible. For example, there is a yawning ga...
Lady Hermon | 445 c653-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. That will give us all an opportunity to object to it. I look fo...
Speaker | 445 c628 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the whole House is grateful to the right hon. and learned Gentleman for coming to the...
Gordon Banks | 445 c636 (Link to this contribution) I come from a Scottish constituency where we have enjoyed devolution since 1999 and seen the real be...
Lord Bannside | 445 c597 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State make it clear that the Assembly to which he refers is not ““the”” Assemb...
Lord Hain | 445 c602 (Link to this contribution) Of course I agree with the right hon. Gentleman that that sort of thing ought not to happen. It is d...
Peter Robinson | 445 c603 (Link to this contribution) There is no DUP Member who does not recognise the progress that has been made. As my right hon. Frie...
Sammy Wilson | 445 c608 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Rosie Cooper | 445 c610 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The big issue is Northern Ireland Members’ priorities. Do they want t...
Meg Hillier | 445 c645-6 (Link to this contribution) Like other Members, I welcome the tantalising glimpse of restored power in Northern Ireland, possibl...
Eddie McGrady | 445 c650-2 (Link to this contribution) The Bill is one of the many initiatives introduced by the two Governments to try to end the suspensi...
Gordon Banks | 445 c599 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Lord Hain | 445 c601 (Link to this contribution) I say in all humility to the hon. Gentleman that he is taking issue with the IMC, not with me. The I...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 445 c612 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State agree that the people of Northern Ireland are also heartily sick of the ...
Subjects
Devolved matters
Crimes of violence
Decommissioning
Devolution
Belfast Agreement
Elections
Education
IRA
Local government
Northern Ireland
Powers
Public appointments
Northern Ireland Assembly
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Political parties
Rates and rating
Politics and government
Ministers
Northern Ireland Executive
Water charges
Reform
Timetables
Standing orders
First Minister (NIE)
Assembly
Statutory instruments
Legislation
Northern Ireland Bill 2005-06
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