24/04/2017

:00:00. > :00:18.including the needs of businesses. Order. Urgent question.

:00:19. > :00:25.To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

:00:26. > :00:33.she will make a statement on the publication date of the Government's

:00:34. > :00:37.air-quality strategy. Thank you, Mr Speaker. This Government is

:00:38. > :00:40.committed to making sure ours is the first generation to leave the

:00:41. > :00:46.environment in a better state than we found it. As part of that, I am

:00:47. > :00:51.personally deeply committed to the importance of ensuring clean air. I

:00:52. > :00:57.can tell the House that since 2011, the Government has announced over ?2

:00:58. > :00:59.billion to help bus operators upgrade fleets, support

:01:00. > :01:04.redevelopment and take-up of low emission vehicles, reduce pollution

:01:05. > :01:08.from vehicles such as refuge trucks and fire engines, and to promote the

:01:09. > :01:13.development of clean alternative fuels. In addition, in the Autumn

:01:14. > :01:16.Statement, we announced a further ?290 million to support electric

:01:17. > :01:22.vehicles, low emission buses and taxis and alternative fuels. Our

:01:23. > :01:27.actions have enabled the UK to make significant progress on improving

:01:28. > :01:31.air quality since 2010. We now have lower emissions of the five key

:01:32. > :01:37.pollutants, volatile organic compounds, sulphur dioxide, ammonia

:01:38. > :01:44.particulates and nitrogen oxides. Due to the failure of YouGov vehicle

:01:45. > :01:48.emissions standards to improve air quality, the UK is amongst 17

:01:49. > :01:51.European countries, including France and Germany, who are not yet meeting

:01:52. > :01:56.EU emissions targets for nitrogen dioxide, in parts of some of

:01:57. > :02:03.attendance at these. We're taking strong action to remedy that. My

:02:04. > :02:07.department, since last member, has been working jointly with the

:02:08. > :02:10.Department for Transport to update the Government's National air

:02:11. > :02:14.quality plan for nitrogen dioxide. We have updated the analytical base

:02:15. > :02:19.for the planned to reflect new evidence following the VW scandal

:02:20. > :02:22.and a failure of the year's regulatory regime to deliver the

:02:23. > :02:26.improvements expected on emissions. The plan adapts to these new

:02:27. > :02:32.circumstances by setting out a framework for action. Following

:02:33. > :02:38.long-standing precedent, we have now entered the period of pre-election

:02:39. > :02:43.sensitivity that precedes elections. In accordance with the guidance

:02:44. > :02:46.covering both the local and general elections, the propriety and ethics

:02:47. > :02:50.team in Cabinet Office have told us that it would not be appropriate to

:02:51. > :02:56.launch the consultation and publish the air-quality plan during this

:02:57. > :03:01.time. So the Government is therefore replying to be High Court for a

:03:02. > :03:04.short extension of the deadline for publishing the air-quality plan for

:03:05. > :03:06.nitrogen dioxide so that the Government can comply with

:03:07. > :03:12.pre-election propriety rules. The Government is seeking to publish a

:03:13. > :03:17.draft plan by the 30th of June and a final plan by the 15th of September.

:03:18. > :03:25.The application will be considered by the court. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

:03:26. > :03:28.Mr Speaker, nearly 40 million people in Britain live in areas with

:03:29. > :03:34.illegal areas of air pollution. 2000 schools and nurseries are close to

:03:35. > :03:40.loads, roads with damaging levels of fumes. Ex-pats estimate that poor

:03:41. > :03:51.air quality contributes to 14,000 premature deaths every year. --

:03:52. > :03:59.experts. This has now become a public health emergency. What does

:04:00. > :04:03.-- does the Government agree this is a public health emergency? Given

:04:04. > :04:07.that she has only known about the High Court deadline for months, why

:04:08. > :04:11.did she request a further delay to the publication on her ear caught a

:04:12. > :04:18.plan at 7pm on Friday night? -- air-quality plan. Would she

:04:19. > :04:23.confirmed she had already applied for extension before the election

:04:24. > :04:30.was called? It is unacceptable to hide behind election to hide plans.

:04:31. > :04:35.Rules are clear that it is not an excuse to delay talks about public

:04:36. > :04:39.health matters. Would she confirmed that the paper is ready for

:04:40. > :04:43.publication? Is she agrees that it is a public emergency, why the

:04:44. > :04:45.delay? Isn't it the case that the Government is doing everything it

:04:46. > :04:49.can to avoid scrutiny because it is missing its own commitments, has no

:04:50. > :04:50.strategy and wants to yet again kicked this issue into the long

:04:51. > :05:00.grass? How can we trust them to keep their

:05:01. > :05:04.standards when done everything possible to evade scrutiny and have

:05:05. > :05:09.had to be dragged through the courts? If the Government fails to

:05:10. > :05:14.publish its plan today, then within the first 30 days of a Labour

:05:15. > :05:17.administration, we will. Only a Labour Government legislate for a

:05:18. > :05:22.new clean air act setting out how we would tackle air pollution that

:05:23. > :05:26.damages the lives of millions while this Conservative Government

:05:27. > :05:36.continues to change leash at its legal responsibilities and puts the

:05:37. > :05:40.health of millions at risk. I think right across this House we all agree

:05:41. > :05:43.that care quality is a significant concern and I have already set out

:05:44. > :05:49.some of the strong action that this Government is taking in spending ?2

:05:50. > :05:54.billion since 2011 in trying to improve matters. It is exactly

:05:55. > :06:02.right, we do have our draft a multi-plan ready, and she asks why

:06:03. > :06:06.do we have a late extension, I can absolutely explain to her that in

:06:07. > :06:10.the course of developing our draft plan, it was very clear that local

:06:11. > :06:15.authorities will have to play a central role in delivering the final

:06:16. > :06:17.air quality plan. Government initially sought to defer

:06:18. > :06:21.publication of the plan and the lord of the consultation on it until

:06:22. > :06:26.after the powder period for local authority elections. So that

:06:27. > :06:29.application was lodged, the primers that they general election and a

:06:30. > :06:35.further period of powder commenced on the 21st of April. As she will

:06:36. > :06:39.know, Government normally seeks to avoid launching consultation

:06:40. > :06:43.exercises during purdah period. It is absolutely vital that we get this

:06:44. > :06:48.done and it is our intention that we will publish this on the 30th of

:06:49. > :06:51.June, which she says within 30 days with a Labour administration they

:06:52. > :07:00.would be publishing, that the taxi belay to land the intention of this

:07:01. > :07:03.Government. I also met one to make clear we now have entered a period

:07:04. > :07:06.of time where we are strongly advised not to be publishing

:07:07. > :07:11.consultations and so what we're trying to do is a very short

:07:12. > :07:14.extension, which we do not believe will make a difference to the

:07:15. > :07:25.implementation of our plans, but at the same time we are safeguarding

:07:26. > :07:29.our democracy. I would urge the Secretary of State along with all

:07:30. > :07:32.ministers to work on this air quality plan with the greatest

:07:33. > :07:36.urgency after the general election, because we have waited a very long

:07:37. > :07:41.time for this report. Much of the problems with diesels actually

:07:42. > :07:45.started under the last Government, so therefore they do need to clean

:07:46. > :07:52.that up. A scrappage scheme, not only for diesel cars but also for

:07:53. > :07:56.buses, taxis and many other public transport in our inner cities is

:07:57. > :08:02.absolutely essential to clean up air quality, especially in our inner

:08:03. > :08:10.cities. 90, Mr Speaker. He is exactly right. We have been working

:08:11. > :08:15.on this plan for several years, on a specific plan, we published a plan,

:08:16. > :08:21.a consultation in 2015 for clean air zones, it has been extended

:08:22. > :08:25.difficult that the emissions of diesel vehicles far exceeded what

:08:26. > :08:32.was expected and the EU regulatory regime did not show effectively but

:08:33. > :08:34.the real levels of emissions were. This Government pushed for

:08:35. > :08:37.improvements to the assessment and we have been planning for this craft

:08:38. > :08:45.air quality plan for a considerable length of time and we will be

:08:46. > :08:48.publishing it as soon as we can. Thank you to the honourable member

:08:49. > :08:53.for securing this urgent question and the Government was like a

:08:54. > :08:58.quality strategy. I agree with the concerns. This is not a political

:08:59. > :09:02.issue. All our constituents need to be and to see an air quality plan

:09:03. > :09:06.based on good scientific evidence to ensure that people no longer have to

:09:07. > :09:10.be toxic air within their communities. The Government have had

:09:11. > :09:14.five months, a five-month window to address this illegal air quality

:09:15. > :09:17.strategy will stop does the Secretary of State then agree with

:09:18. > :09:21.me that hiding behind a general election is not an excuse to fail to

:09:22. > :09:25.address this vital public health issue that she has just mentioned,

:09:26. > :09:35.and the minister said it is vital to get this legislation through, why

:09:36. > :09:39.the delay? I can only repeat that I absolutely agree with all members,

:09:40. > :09:44.this is a vital issue, we have spent the last five months looking very

:09:45. > :09:48.carefully at the real world as well as the laboratory tests for actual

:09:49. > :09:53.images to make sure that we get the right consultation. We do not expect

:09:54. > :09:58.that any delay due to proprietary rules will lead to a delay in the

:09:59. > :10:02.implementation. We are seeking a very short a later preserve our

:10:03. > :10:07.democracy in accordance with the guidance from Cabinet Office for a

:10:08. > :10:10.brightly and ethics committee. Does she agree there is rising concern,

:10:11. > :10:16.particularly about emissions that can damage health and lungs, and

:10:17. > :10:19.would she make a high priority to limit suit and smoke from public

:10:20. > :10:24.servers vehicles where she has the most influence? Yes, my honourable

:10:25. > :10:30.friend is right to raise that issue. A huge amount of the investment that

:10:31. > :10:34.has already come forward from the Government has been in looking at

:10:35. > :10:39.what we can do in retrofitting, buses and taxis, and there are other

:10:40. > :10:43.measures such as limiting medium combustion plant, which I was very

:10:44. > :10:48.proud as energy secretary to put into place, to try to reduce the

:10:49. > :10:51.amount of other emissions. My honourable friend is exactly right,

:10:52. > :10:56.there are a number of different areas of emissions which we need to

:10:57. > :11:01.tackle, this plan deals with an O2 emissions and we will publish it as

:11:02. > :11:06.soon as we can. On the opposition benches, we will monitor carefully

:11:07. > :11:08.whether the pre-election sensitivity applies equally to an announcement

:11:09. > :11:13.on consultations the Government well, as once which will cause

:11:14. > :11:17.embarrassment, but, as the Secretary of State, was the UK leaves the EU

:11:18. > :11:20.and the commission are no longer able to levy fines on UK for failing

:11:21. > :11:25.to act with due speed on the premature death of 40,000 people a

:11:26. > :11:29.year caused by toxic air, who does the Government expect will be

:11:30. > :11:36.levying fines initiating cases against the Government for a quality

:11:37. > :11:40.beaches? I can agree with the honourable gentleman again that this

:11:41. > :11:43.is a significant and serious issue. I find it rather distasteful that he

:11:44. > :11:47.would suggest the only reason we might be motivated as a Government

:11:48. > :11:52.to deal with it is because the threat of EU fines. We absolutely to

:11:53. > :11:56.deal with the issues to make sure that the air is cleaner for the

:11:57. > :12:00.people of our country and to ensure that we are the generation that

:12:01. > :12:06.needs are environment and a better state than we found it. Would my

:12:07. > :12:11.right honourable friend agree that it is not just people but sensitive

:12:12. > :12:16.landscapes such as the nationally designated area of outstanding

:12:17. > :12:20.natural beauty, such as the children's, that should not only be

:12:21. > :12:27.protected but should be positively recognised for its role in the

:12:28. > :12:33.battle against poor air quality? This includes the harnessing, the

:12:34. > :12:40.potential of our trees and ancient woodland. I absolutely agree, she

:12:41. > :12:46.always speaks very strongly for the Chilterns as you try to do so, it is

:12:47. > :12:49.a beautiful area and equality is vital for humans and our lovely

:12:50. > :12:58.landscapes and to the contribution that our trees and peatlands and so

:12:59. > :13:03.I can make to that Israel ported. -- is really important. Merrimack my

:13:04. > :13:08.constituency is one of the ten cities there are were infected

:13:09. > :13:14.with... One of the five cities under the December Government plans to

:13:15. > :13:17.introduce clean air zones. Local authority of Southampton has been

:13:18. > :13:21.really assiduous in moving forward with those plans. There's been a

:13:22. > :13:24.great deal of its own city authority money is the grant money that has

:13:25. > :13:29.been received into forwarding those plans. Is it the advice of the

:13:30. > :13:33.minister that the City Council in Southampton should go easy on its

:13:34. > :13:36.plans, because the Government cannot get its own plans together in the

:13:37. > :13:42.wake that they would bring these plans forward? I was in full

:13:43. > :13:45.agreement with the honourable gentleman to that last bit. Of

:13:46. > :13:50.course not. I must go to pray Southampton bodywork that they have

:13:51. > :13:54.done. They've had significant, with the council, sums of Government

:13:55. > :13:59.funding for the clean air programme and they are doing a good job. They

:14:00. > :14:03.should continue. To be clear, clean air zones can be implemented by any

:14:04. > :14:06.local authority has things stand. It should of course be in the interest

:14:07. > :14:11.of all local authorities to be looking at adding whatever they can

:14:12. > :14:19.to improve the quality of care for the local communities. Is at the air

:14:20. > :14:22.quality plan got to be seen wider context of the environment and tax

:14:23. > :14:24.changes, and isn't that the case that the Government is any more

:14:25. > :14:30.difficult position than it would otherwise be because of the legacy

:14:31. > :14:34.of the wrong-headed tax changes made by Labour when in power, which meant

:14:35. > :14:37.that be more than doubled the level of diesel cars and increased the

:14:38. > :14:43.number of diesel buyers to 3 million as a result of their ridiculous tax

:14:44. > :14:50.changes under Gordon Brown? And Dippy one above thread makes a good

:14:51. > :14:53.point and it is interesting that in recent times several of Gordon

:14:54. > :14:56.Brown's and Tony Blair's advisers have Martin said that they were

:14:57. > :15:02.wrong to have encouraged the uptake of diesel vehicles as much as they

:15:03. > :15:05.did. Even the current shadow international trade Secretary has

:15:06. > :15:08.admitted there is a slave no decision -- question that the

:15:09. > :15:13.decision they took on diesel was the wrong one. I do think that this

:15:14. > :15:25.Government as ever decidedly not a mess that we started that Michael

:15:26. > :15:29.was started by Labour. A major contributory factor to a quality,

:15:30. > :15:33.but in areas like quayside if the Government act on storage. We've

:15:34. > :15:41.been promised a Tory policy on this is the biggest funding two years

:15:42. > :15:45.ago. It will be getting? As an energy minister of the past, I can

:15:46. > :15:48.tell him that we have always been clear that carbon capture and

:15:49. > :15:51.storage will play a part in our future plans but that doesn't impact

:15:52. > :15:59.on the inner O2 plan that we are talking about today. Secretary of

:16:00. > :16:02.State has clearly set out the reasons for the delay. Can I

:16:03. > :16:06.encourage her in the intervening time to strengthen our policies that

:16:07. > :16:10.will encourage people to get out of their cars altogether, and I can act

:16:11. > :16:13.I encourage you to look at the article in this week was like

:16:14. > :16:19.British medical Journal which clearly sets out the evidence for

:16:20. > :16:21.the benefit of active commuting, particularly by bicycle, and to

:16:22. > :16:30.encourage others to get Britain cycling? She is right to raise this,

:16:31. > :16:36.the Government is a huge supporter of sustainable transport projects.

:16:37. > :16:44.We have invested ?224 million in cycling since 2013, and also ?600

:16:45. > :16:46.million to deliver transport projects across 77 local authorities

:16:47. > :16:52.through the local sustainable transport fund. We do need to do

:16:53. > :16:55.everything we can to protect the quality of our hair in our cities

:16:56. > :17:01.and that includes changing the way people travel. And delighted

:17:02. > :17:05.congratulate the envelope member for not call well on his successful

:17:06. > :17:11.completion of the marathon yesterday. Despite that, he has

:17:12. > :17:16.sprung to his feet. Very impressive. The Secretary of State and the

:17:17. > :17:20.minister will be well aware of the challenges facing my constituency,

:17:21. > :17:25.they have really had an air quality assessment and they are developed

:17:26. > :17:27.early stages of having a bypass. I would hope the Secretary of State

:17:28. > :17:33.will support me and the local community and their bid for a new

:17:34. > :17:38.bypass in Camelford. I would love to be able to offer him a new bypass,

:17:39. > :17:42.unfortunately that is outside my powers to do that. I do wish him

:17:43. > :17:51.luck with that and also congratulate him to art his amazing achievement

:17:52. > :17:56.yesterday. At the present rate, there will be several more dead

:17:57. > :18:02.people by the time the cheap rubbish is this air quality plan. The whole

:18:03. > :18:07.point of purdah is that you shouldn't make announcements unless

:18:08. > :18:13.they are significant in terms of urgent health issues. Isn't this an

:18:14. > :18:16.urgent health issue? What is she going to say to the families of

:18:17. > :18:24.those seven people who will die before she even publishes reds

:18:25. > :18:27.here's right to say poor air quality is a public health issue, and that

:18:28. > :18:33.is why we are taking urgent action and will ensure that a short delay

:18:34. > :18:36.to the timetable will not result in a delay in the implementation of the

:18:37. > :18:41.plan. By doing this, we will tackle this public health issue as quickly

:18:42. > :18:47.as possible without prejudicing our democratic process. Safeguarding

:18:48. > :18:51.public health is one example of a possible exception that like

:18:52. > :18:55.exceptional circumstance that circumstance. But this would

:18:56. > :18:58.generally only apply if there was an unexpected health emergency, such as

:18:59. > :19:02.for example contaminated food that needed to be dealt with is ugly.

:19:03. > :19:08.This doesn't fall within that category of exception. With the

:19:09. > :19:12.Government confirmed that it remains technology neutral as far as dealing

:19:13. > :19:16.with this issue is concerned and that specifically as far as hydrogen

:19:17. > :19:20.is concerned, the Government will do what is necessary to make sure we

:19:21. > :19:26.don't fall behind countries like Germany and California in terms of

:19:27. > :19:30.cleaning up this terrible problem? I can confirm that we are technology

:19:31. > :19:34.neutral. It is a part of our industrial strategy that we are

:19:35. > :19:38.consulting on how to become a world leader in ultralow emission vehicles

:19:39. > :19:44.of all types. There is a very good story to tell. More to be done. But

:19:45. > :19:50.we are making good progress. Air quality standards are regularly

:19:51. > :19:55.breached in my constituency from Chiswick, Brentford and two to

:19:56. > :19:58.hounds were. Do my constituents not deserve better on this issue,

:19:59. > :20:03.especially as the Government wants to push ahead with runway three at

:20:04. > :20:08.Heathrow, which will only make the problem significant it worse?

:20:09. > :20:13.I can say to the honourable lady that I met with the Mayor of London

:20:14. > :20:17.in my first week of office to discuss clean air, because she is

:20:18. > :20:21.right. It is a huge priority in all our cities but particularly in

:20:22. > :20:27.London. There is quite rightly a huge focus on it. I can say that the

:20:28. > :20:31.Mayor is implementing the excellent work on my right honourable friend,

:20:32. > :20:37.the member for Oxbridge, when he was the Mayor of London. That continuity

:20:38. > :20:44.should continue to be a cross-party co-operation to solve what is a very

:20:45. > :20:48.serious issue for all of us. Does my right honourable friend share my

:20:49. > :20:50.sadness at the lack of contrition displayed by the benches opposite,

:20:51. > :20:55.given that the unquestioned adoption of policy in the early Pata last

:20:56. > :21:01.decade resulted in a massive increase in the number of diesel

:21:02. > :21:08.vehicles, making the air in places like Westbury and my constituency

:21:09. > :21:13.considerably more toxic? I completely agree with my

:21:14. > :21:18.honourable friend. Of course, now, there are a number of advisers and

:21:19. > :21:21.indeed serving members of the benches opposite to admit that the

:21:22. > :21:28.decision to promote diesel was not the right decision back in 2000 -

:21:29. > :21:34.2008. That is a great shame, because now, we are trying to do with some

:21:35. > :21:37.of the consequences of that. It is very important that cross-party, we

:21:38. > :21:44.all cooperate with one another to try and make sure we tackle what is

:21:45. > :21:46.a very significant issue. Air pollution contributes to the

:21:47. > :21:51.premature deaths of tens of thousands of people. We all know

:21:52. > :21:55.that. Do I take from her previous ads that she thinks air pollution is

:21:56. > :22:01.only a public health issue and not categorically a public health

:22:02. > :22:07.emergency? I think that cleanly is an absolute priority for this

:22:08. > :22:10.Government. -- clean air. We have been working on our new proposals

:22:11. > :22:14.for the last five months and we're ready to go with our proposals. We

:22:15. > :22:21.are now seeking a very short referral to meet the propriety

:22:22. > :22:25.rules. We do not expect that will delay the fermentation of plans to

:22:26. > :22:34.deal with what is a very significant and urgent concern. I've worn at the

:22:35. > :22:40.air-quality monitor as part of the environmentally select committee's

:22:41. > :22:43.enquiry into are emissions. This should that a bus station in my

:22:44. > :22:48.constituency had pollution as high as in Oxford geek. Does the

:22:49. > :22:51.Secretary of State share my concern that some directly elected Mayor 's

:22:52. > :22:56.will use this as an opportunity to introduce congestion charges on

:22:57. > :23:02.motorists who were told to buy diesel vehicles, not use that money

:23:03. > :23:07.for air-quality, and in addition, take money from Defra for addressing

:23:08. > :23:13.the same problem? What I can say to my honourable friend is that we're

:23:14. > :23:18.been very clear that this Government... We are very conscious

:23:19. > :23:21.of the fact that past governors have encouraged people to buy diesel cars

:23:22. > :23:27.and we need to take that into account when we are looking at what

:23:28. > :23:32.we are doing in the future. Mr Speaker, can I, in a possible way,

:23:33. > :23:38.put the Secretary of State right on this? She has had to be dragged to

:23:39. > :23:41.the House to make this statement. She has put off major decisions

:23:42. > :23:44.across the future of our department on all those important issues. Can I

:23:45. > :23:48.put the record straight just the fact that my constituents will not

:23:49. > :23:52.understand, when children are being poisoned now, when pregnant women

:23:53. > :24:00.are being poisoned now, pedestrians and cyclists are being poisoned, and

:24:01. > :24:03.she is bringing some obscure mention to stop us doing something about it?

:24:04. > :24:08.Can I remind her that it is two years since the Volkswagen scandal

:24:09. > :24:16.broke and she has had two years and done nothing? Well, in truth, what

:24:17. > :24:20.this Government did was to lead the UN sorting out the emissions

:24:21. > :24:29.calculation is to make sure that they were accurate. After years ago,

:24:30. > :24:33.the E's assessment and the VW cheating and wrong emissions

:24:34. > :24:39.assessment were just that, wrong. -- EU's. We have press for better

:24:40. > :24:44.assessments and have worked extremely hard to get plans ready.

:24:45. > :24:51.This is a very short the federal to deal with propriety rules. -- the.

:24:52. > :24:54.We will be pushing a plans as soon as possible after the election and

:24:55. > :24:57.we do not believe there will be a delay in implementation, which will

:24:58. > :25:03.be in the shortest time possible. It is a very important issue. You will

:25:04. > :25:09.want to know, Mr Speaker, that on Friday, I launched the new

:25:10. > :25:16.double-decker fleet for the X three service which runs from Salisbury to

:25:17. > :25:23.Bournemouth via God 's own town of Ringwood and Fordingbridge.

:25:24. > :25:26.Combining convenience and comfort with lower emissions than the

:25:27. > :25:40.Longmoor that I push round my garden on Saturday evening. If... If she

:25:41. > :25:45.wants to break the unrelieved tedium of which she has spoken in the next

:25:46. > :25:55.few weeks, can I recommend she joins me breathing deeply the fresh air of

:25:56. > :26:01.Avon Valley in the XP service. -- X3.

:26:02. > :26:06.It is always interesting to hear of the right honourable gentleman's

:26:07. > :26:11.activities and despite his knighthood, he remains a man of the

:26:12. > :26:15.people. I am saddened that we do not have photographs of him pushing his

:26:16. > :26:20.lawn mower around but I suspect it is a matter of time! I hope he has

:26:21. > :26:29.an electric lawn mower to go with his electric buses. In the Autumn

:26:30. > :26:36.Statement, there was ?150 million in support of low emissions buses and

:26:37. > :26:40.taxis which ensures that wherever I go in the country, I will be able to

:26:41. > :26:46.breathe deeply and enjoy the non-fumes from the new, low emission

:26:47. > :26:51.vehicles. Incredibly important and it is this Government that is taking

:26:52. > :27:03.the action on it. The Secretary of State might have

:27:04. > :27:08.her Government is sitting on its hands well be Mayor of London is

:27:09. > :27:12.taking action. But she admit that this is the biggest crisis of our

:27:13. > :27:17.time, and now she diverse one of its worst decisions in Government,

:27:18. > :27:22.building the thought runway on Heathrow? He is wrong to say this

:27:23. > :27:25.Government is not taken action. I have given Kim as examples of where

:27:26. > :27:29.we have taken action. We have recently issued over ?3.5 million of

:27:30. > :27:33.plans to particular councils and projects. This Government is the one

:27:34. > :27:37.that is taking action. As I have made clear, we have seen reductions,

:27:38. > :27:42.significant reductions in recent years. In answer to his point about

:27:43. > :27:48.expanding at Heathrow, that will take place, only provided the

:27:49. > :27:51.air-quality can be insured. Those plans have not yet come forward.

:27:52. > :27:59.Well, those plans have not come forward yet. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

:28:00. > :28:03.With the Secretary of State agree that pollution is a serious problem,

:28:04. > :28:06.but for the Mayor of London to seek to demonise the drivers of diesel

:28:07. > :28:12.cars and indeed use pollution concerns as a smoke screen through

:28:13. > :28:15.which to seek to flee is for more tax, is not the answer. Particularly

:28:16. > :28:20.as figures show that diesel cars 10% of the problem. The Mayor should be

:28:21. > :28:25.dealing with 100% of the problem, not just 10%.

:28:26. > :28:30.He is exactly right that all councils that have the air-quality

:28:31. > :28:35.problems will need to deal with them, dealing with one of 2% of the

:28:36. > :28:38.problem. All I can reiterate is as the premise of said. A number of

:28:39. > :28:41.people were encouraged to buy diesel cars by the last Labour Government

:28:42. > :28:44.and we want to take the needs into account so we do not end up

:28:45. > :28:55.penalising people for decisions that they took in good faith. Latest

:28:56. > :28:59.figures show that new cars are failing to filter it polluted air.

:29:00. > :29:04.And the air inside cars is up to 10,000 times more toxic than on

:29:05. > :29:07.footpaths. The ventilation in cars is not working correctly either. You

:29:08. > :29:11.have given us a timescale for when this process will take place and the

:29:12. > :29:16.comeback. Can we have an idea when the legislation will come to this

:29:17. > :29:28.House for endorsement? Well, the timetable that we have set out to

:29:29. > :29:32.account for this is the will publish our plans by the 30th of June and a

:29:33. > :29:35.final plan by the 15th of September. And then legislation will come into

:29:36. > :29:39.place as soon as possible after that. But the workable need to be

:29:40. > :29:45.done to come into compliance with that plan will need to start

:29:46. > :29:54.straightaway. Good choice, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, electric

:29:55. > :30:02.vehicles will reduce emissions in our city centres and improve our bin

:30:03. > :30:03.air-quality. However, without support for renewables, any

:30:04. > :30:09.air-quality plan is simply shifting pollution from urban to rural areas

:30:10. > :30:13.when his electric vehicles need to charge and therefore plugged into

:30:14. > :30:17.the grid. With the Secretary of State agree that support for

:30:18. > :30:24.renewables is key when we consider the future electric vehicles, and

:30:25. > :30:29.they should be included in any air-quality plan. Yes, I am sure she

:30:30. > :30:32.would agree with me that this Government has done more to support

:30:33. > :30:40.renewables than most others. We have a very good track record in boosting

:30:41. > :30:43.renewable electricity generation. I can certainly tell her that we want

:30:44. > :30:47.and expect to see the majority of the judging taking place at home at

:30:48. > :30:50.night after the peak in electricity demand. Only charging should be

:30:51. > :30:58.supported by workplace recharging for commuters and sweets, in

:30:59. > :31:02.infrastructure areas where it will be most used. She will also be

:31:03. > :31:08.delighted that only 2016 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor a further

:31:09. > :31:14.to ?290 million to support electric vehicles, low emission vehicles and

:31:15. > :31:19.alternative fuels. Glasgow is still unfortunately

:31:20. > :31:26.something of an air pollution Hot Spot. In Biles Road in my

:31:27. > :31:36.constituency, because an area that is particularly affected. -- Byres

:31:37. > :31:44.Road. Will she also welcomed the action of local campaign groups in

:31:45. > :31:49.raising awareness and encouraging people to date local action to

:31:50. > :31:52.improve air quality in their areas? I am always delighted to welcome the

:31:53. > :31:57.actions of local voluntary bodies to try and change the way that people

:31:58. > :32:00.travel and encourage the take-up of good, healthy cycling and all the

:32:01. > :32:04.rest of it. Why not walking as well, when you can? But recognising that

:32:05. > :32:10.air-quality is often the result of people needing to use their own

:32:11. > :32:15.vehicles and fans etc. Of course, he will be aware that the actual policy

:32:16. > :32:20.on air quality is a devolved matter. So the plan that we have is a shared

:32:21. > :32:26.plan between all of the four nations of the United Kingdom, so we will be

:32:27. > :32:33.publishing that as soon as we can. Yes. Point of order, Fiona

:32:34. > :32:48.McTaggart. You will be aware that I requested

:32:49. > :32:51.an urgent question on an issue to do -- that was raised in my surgery

:32:52. > :32:58.last week. I later discovered that this was the practice for a number

:32:59. > :33:01.of Government hotlines. These mechanisms which enable MPs and, as

:33:02. > :33:05.you know, we're Members of Parliament until next Tuesday, which

:33:06. > :33:10.enable them to get justice for their constituents. Following that

:33:11. > :33:14.request, my office got a telephone call from the Cabinet Office saying,

:33:15. > :33:22.please withdraw it. We don't believe what to answer this. And I did not

:33:23. > :33:29.exceed two that request. -- and I did not agree to that request. And

:33:30. > :33:35.then what happened? Hotlines reopened. I understand why you do

:33:36. > :33:40.not want me to ask the question, but can I ask for an assurance, as a

:33:41. > :33:43.champion of a backbencher, to make sure and use your best efforts to

:33:44. > :33:48.make sure the original plans to cut off this service to Members of

:33:49. > :33:56.Parliament, to a call last week, does not occur until after this

:33:57. > :34:00.Parliament is complete? I am grateful to the honourable

:34:01. > :34:02.lady. The leader of the houses in his place, and notwithstanding the

:34:03. > :34:12.rating remarks the honourable lady has made about the Government, it

:34:13. > :34:15.may the wish of the Leader of the House to clarify the matter as he

:34:16. > :34:20.sees fit. I will say only that I always do my best for Mac...

:34:21. > :34:23.Backbenchers. As you will lady has announced intention to leave the

:34:24. > :34:28.House, perhaps I can wish a great good fortune, health and happiness

:34:29. > :34:31.in all she goes on to do. I'm very conscious that she and I entered the

:34:32. > :34:36.House together 20 years ago and we have come to know each other well

:34:37. > :34:41.over the last two decades. As I say, I say with feeling, best wishes and

:34:42. > :34:47.good luck. The Leader of the House. Mr Speaker, on that point of order,

:34:48. > :34:50.it might be for the convenience of the houses I clarify that the

:34:51. > :34:53.understanding I have from the Cabinet Office is that there were

:34:54. > :34:57.some technical problems with one or two lines at the end of last week.

:34:58. > :35:04.But it was never in certainly is not the intention of the Government that

:35:05. > :35:08.the rules should be applied at this stage. They will come into force as

:35:09. > :35:10.is normal at the dissolution of the House when members seized to have

:35:11. > :35:16.the position of being a Member of Parliament.

:35:17. > :35:22.Point of order. Further to the previous point of order, my office

:35:23. > :35:25.this morning contacted UK Visa and immigration are only to be told we

:35:26. > :35:30.are in purdah and they would not halt to them even with ongoing

:35:31. > :35:34.cases. There is really an inconsistency of advice going on. I

:35:35. > :35:39.wonder if maybe the Leader of the House could respond to the further

:35:40. > :35:43.point of order. The position is exactly as I have just said in

:35:44. > :35:48.response to the point made by Honda lady, member for Slough. I hope that

:35:49. > :35:52.will prove to be adequate in the coming days. I'm grateful to the

:35:53. > :35:56.leader and has for what he has just said and I think the honourable

:35:57. > :36:06.lady. If you are no further point of order, we shall know proceeds to the

:36:07. > :36:16.business of the House, motion folly 24th, 25, 26 and 20 of April. The

:36:17. > :36:19.minister to move? I beg to move the motion that appears on the paper in

:36:20. > :36:22.my name. The purpose of this motion is to allow for the orderly

:36:23. > :36:27.conclusion of the business currently before the House before the House is

:36:28. > :36:32.complete. Provisions are being made for the convenience of the House so

:36:33. > :36:35.began bring proceedings to our business face-lift and orderly

:36:36. > :36:44.conclusion. The business of the House motion by a 24, 20 fifth, 26

:36:45. > :36:48.7th of April as on the paper. Can affect the Leader of the House for

:36:49. > :36:50.bringing this to the House and volley helpful explanatory note,

:36:51. > :36:55.which act the rise to the pages which is an event of this? I would

:36:56. > :36:57.also like to thank the staff or the expeditions wave which they are

:36:58. > :37:02.dealing with the future that is given in the forthcoming general

:37:03. > :37:08.election. I don't think there is any doubt like there is a further

:37:09. > :37:12.contributor. I would simply like to add to the remarks made by the

:37:13. > :37:16.Leader of the House and to thank him for bringing this urgent business to

:37:17. > :37:22.the House and the rest assure that people scrutinised everything as in

:37:23. > :37:31.our normal fashion. And the question is as on the order paper. At the

:37:32. > :37:38.ayes have it. The court although busy to read the orders of the day.

:37:39. > :37:41.Northern Ireland, Minnesota appointments. Second reading.

:37:42. > :37:47.Northern Ireland (Ministerial Appointments and Regional Rates)

:37:48. > :37:53.Bill. The second reading of the Bill, I call the Secretary of State

:37:54. > :37:56.for Northern Ireland. Thank you, Mr Speaker and I beg to move that this

:37:57. > :38:02.Bill be now read a second time. Before I move forward with this

:38:03. > :38:07.business, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to those

:38:08. > :38:12.in the Police Service of Northern Ireland and other emergency

:38:13. > :38:17.services. Those who spent yesterday keeping people safe from a

:38:18. > :38:21.significant bomb placed by dissident republican terrorists next in a

:38:22. > :38:26.primary school in north Belfast. I am sickened by this incident. It has

:38:27. > :38:31.caused outrage in the unity and far beyond. It is clear that the

:38:32. > :38:37.consequences could have been utterly devastating. Potentially to put

:38:38. > :38:42.children, the wider community and police officers in danger shows a

:38:43. > :38:47.wanton disregard for life. This shows these terrors for who and what

:38:48. > :38:56.they really are. It is a potent reminder that they have nothing to

:38:57. > :39:02.offer. I will give way. Will he also except that attempts by the BBC this

:39:03. > :39:09.morning to try and somehow justify what the terrace did at the weekend

:39:10. > :39:13.on the basis that there had been no political progress shows the kind of

:39:14. > :39:21.by now reporting that we get from the BBC, and is not worthy of a body

:39:22. > :39:24.which is funded from public funds? The honourable gentleman has made

:39:25. > :39:30.his point in his own way, all I would say is that this was an

:39:31. > :39:37.appalling incident for which there is no justification whatsoever. I

:39:38. > :39:43.think the whole House would wish to pay tribute to all of those agencies

:39:44. > :39:46.who do such an incredible job in seeking to provide security for

:39:47. > :39:51.Northern Ireland. The rest they often put themselves under as a

:39:52. > :39:59.consequence of that and the incredible contribution that they

:40:00. > :40:02.make. Very briefly. With the Secretary of State agree with me

:40:03. > :40:09.that it is not enough for political parties and individuals to say they

:40:10. > :40:12.supported the rule of law? It surely is incumbent upon all of us to

:40:13. > :40:18.support the individual officers who come from right across the community

:40:19. > :40:24.to serve all of the committee and that we, all of us should be giving

:40:25. > :40:27.them wholehearted support. Device honourable gentleman I think has

:40:28. > :40:33.made a powerful and important point about the incredible job that they

:40:34. > :40:40.do. The contribution that they make and what that means for them in many

:40:41. > :40:44.cases. I have a huge amount of respect for their professionalism,

:40:45. > :40:47.but just that personal dedication that they bring, and I'm sure the

:40:48. > :40:51.whole House will wish to underline that message of support to the

:40:52. > :40:56.incredible job that they do. Moving to the Bill before the House, I've

:40:57. > :40:59.updated the House twice on the political situation in Northern

:41:00. > :41:03.Ireland in recent weeks and honourable statements on the 20th of

:41:04. > :41:06.March and May written ministerial statement of last week, on both

:41:07. > :41:11.occasions I set out what I would seek to bring forward legislation

:41:12. > :41:15.with two aims in mind. To provide the legal basis for an executive to

:41:16. > :41:20.form and is at a regional rate to enable that importance source of

:41:21. > :41:23.revenue to be collected. As we approached this final week of this

:41:24. > :41:27.Parliament, I believe that now is the right time to deal with both of

:41:28. > :41:30.these matters to provide greater certainty for the people of Northern

:41:31. > :41:35.Ireland and to provide the opportunity for the parties to come

:41:36. > :41:38.together to secure the resumption of devolved Government. The background

:41:39. > :41:43.leading up to the Bill today will be familiar to many in this House, Mr

:41:44. > :41:47.Speaker. The collapse of the US executive in January placed a duty

:41:48. > :41:50.on me to set a date for further election. I did so in January with

:41:51. > :41:54.the election held itself on the 2nd of March. Since then the UK

:41:55. > :41:57.Government has been engaged in parts with the political parties and, as

:41:58. > :42:02.appropriate, the Irish Government in accordance with the well-established

:42:03. > :42:05.three stranded approach. The Stockton had one clear purpose, to

:42:06. > :42:11.be established an increase of devolved administration in a line

:42:12. > :42:15.with the 1998 Belfast agreement and its successors. Progress was made on

:42:16. > :42:17.several fronts during that preys on the formation of an executive,

:42:18. > :42:22.including the budget and programme for Government. There was progress

:42:23. > :42:25.in terms of legacy. Constructive discussions took place with all the

:42:26. > :42:30.parties on the detail of the legacy is that uses set out in the Stormont

:42:31. > :42:33.House agreement and on the need to reform legacy inquest. No one will

:42:34. > :42:37.underestimate the challenge in addressing the legacy of the past, I

:42:38. > :42:48.do believe that the proposals are now sufficiently developed that the

:42:49. > :42:51.next step should be to publish proposals for consultation. That way

:42:52. > :42:53.we can listen to the views of victims and survivors and also all

:42:54. > :42:55.those who will be most affected by the proposed new institutions.

:42:56. > :42:58.However, despite the progress that was made, there remains a graphite

:42:59. > :43:02.number of outstanding there is a lack of agreement between the

:43:03. > :43:06.parties and it was clear that a period of reflection was necessary

:43:07. > :43:10.to give the impetus for discussions to conclude positively. It was

:43:11. > :43:16.fitting that in mind, that total cost of a stir and since then

:43:17. > :43:22.meetings have continued between the parties. The restoration of devolved

:43:23. > :43:26.Government remains achievable. It remains the absolute priority. This

:43:27. > :43:31.will require more time and more focused engagement by the parties on

:43:32. > :43:36.the critical issues that remain. Holding on the discussions over the

:43:37. > :43:40.course of the past seven weeks. The Bill before this House today would

:43:41. > :43:44.provide the space and the opportunities for the parties to do

:43:45. > :43:50.just that. We will remove the present legal barriers so that the

:43:51. > :43:56.assembly can meet at ten executive can be formed at any point from

:43:57. > :43:59.Royal assent to the 29th of June. Three weeks after the general

:44:00. > :44:03.election. We recognise that there will be focused on the general

:44:04. > :44:07.election, that is why the Bill provides parties with the scope and

:44:08. > :44:11.space to continue discussions to resolve the outstanding issues are

:44:12. > :44:16.providing a period of reflection for the new Government in a deal still

:44:17. > :44:22.does not prove possible. That said, it remains highly desirable by the

:44:23. > :44:26.parties to continue to work to make progress quickly for the reasons

:44:27. > :44:29.I've set out. This Bill does not preclude the formation of an

:44:30. > :44:36.executive sooner if the parties wish for that to happen. That, Mr

:44:37. > :44:39.Speaker, is an important point. In passing this Bill, we make clear

:44:40. > :44:44.that the responsibility lies with the parties to come together and

:44:45. > :44:48.make progress. As I have indicated, I strongly believe that that can

:44:49. > :44:54.still happen. We have removed the legal barrier to progress, enabling

:44:55. > :44:58.executive to form without the need for a further assembly election. If

:44:59. > :45:02.the parties have the will to make progress between now and the end of

:45:03. > :45:09.June, therefore, the platform is in place for them to do just that. We

:45:10. > :45:13.should not lose sight of the benefits of an agreement in the

:45:14. > :45:19.meantime would have for the people of Northern Ireland. I'm sure that

:45:20. > :45:26.will be the hope of those voters who gave the parties a mandate on the

:45:27. > :45:30.2nd of March. I would like to pay tribute to the opposition for their

:45:31. > :45:36.constructive, positive engagement in the process leading up to the

:45:37. > :45:40.introduction of this Bill. In that regard, I would like to pay

:45:41. > :45:45.particular tribute to the honourable member for Leighton who may be

:45:46. > :45:49.making his final appearance at the dispatch box as Shadow Secretary of

:45:50. > :45:52.State for Northern Ireland. Despite our broader political differences, I

:45:53. > :45:57.would like to thank him for the overall support he and his party

:45:58. > :46:04.have given to me since I became Secretary of State last July.

:46:05. > :46:07.Northern Ireland undoubtedly benefits from the broadly bipartisan

:46:08. > :46:12.approach we take in this House, at whatever the result of the general

:46:13. > :46:15.election, I hope that that will always continue. I do wish the

:46:16. > :46:21.honourable member of the very best for the future. His presence will be

:46:22. > :46:24.missed, I know, by many across this House, who will wish him well with

:46:25. > :46:30.whatever new opportunities and new challenges he takes forward. Moving

:46:31. > :46:35.to the substance of the Bill, as I indicated, clause one would remove

:46:36. > :46:39.the present legal barrier to an executive been able to form to

:46:40. > :46:45.enable any deal reached to be implemented. It would register Datuk

:46:46. > :46:52.retrospectively reset the 14 day clock any Northern Ireland act 1998

:46:53. > :46:56.which had expired and the 27th of March with 108 day period removing

:46:57. > :47:03.the present duty on me to set a date for an election with it rising again

:47:04. > :47:07.at 4pm on the 29th of June if an executive had not been formed by

:47:08. > :47:13.that point. This will provide the space for a Executive form, making

:47:14. > :47:17.clear that the responsibility lies with the parties, indeed that duty

:47:18. > :47:22.to form an Executive to appoint ministers in that process. As

:47:23. > :47:26.necessary, it would provide a period for further talks in the parliament,

:47:27. > :47:29.allowing all sides to take stock and move forward in the deal was not

:47:30. > :47:34.already in place. It would also mean that if a deal is not struck there

:47:35. > :47:37.is a period for the new Government to properly consider the way

:47:38. > :47:42.forward. That is important, Mr Speaker. Or in the absence of a

:47:43. > :47:46.deal, they would be significant decisions to be made in the new

:47:47. > :47:52.parliament to provide a little stability in Northern Ireland.

:47:53. > :47:56.However, it would be for the parties to seize the opportunity, whether in

:47:57. > :48:04.the coming weeks or soon after, to deliver the executive that they have

:48:05. > :48:08.so clear a mandate to secure. I've mentioned previously the two acute

:48:09. > :48:16.issues of financial uncertainty caused by the lack of an Executive.

:48:17. > :48:20.The first is the absence of a 2017 - 2018 original rate which represents

:48:21. > :48:24.more than the 5% of the total revenue available to the Northern

:48:25. > :48:28.Ireland Executive. Normally this would be set by the Department of

:48:29. > :48:31.Finance earlier this year, via an affirmative rates order in the

:48:32. > :48:36.assembly. This would have enabled the bills to be issued in ten

:48:37. > :48:41.instalments, giving certainty to ratepayers and allowing various

:48:42. > :48:46.payment relates to be applied. Time has nearly run out, however, for

:48:47. > :48:51.that course. If no rate is set in the next few days, there will be

:48:52. > :48:56.fewer bills in higher instalments. The longer it takes to set a rate,

:48:57. > :49:04.the worst that situation would become. The hourly outcome, Mr

:49:05. > :49:08.Speaker, with the bad debt, lost revenue, uncertainty and hardship.

:49:09. > :49:14.So while we are clear that this is a devolved matter, we are also clear

:49:15. > :49:19.that only the UK Government can take action to secure the interests of

:49:20. > :49:24.individual businesses and indeed the Executive itself. Clause two of this

:49:25. > :49:28.Bill will address this issue by setting a 2017-2018 regional rate in

:49:29. > :49:33.Northern Ireland. It does so by setting p per lb rates for both

:49:34. > :49:39.domestic and nondomestic properties. These represent a 1.6% inflationary

:49:40. > :49:43.increase, the same approaches were taken by the Executive in setting a

:49:44. > :49:49.rate of the year before. As we make clear in clauses two, four and five,

:49:50. > :49:54.it would not cut across the continuing right of the Executive to

:49:55. > :49:58.set a rate in the usual way. This would be the most limited step

:49:59. > :50:08.available to others, taken at a point beyond which we cannot delay.

:50:09. > :50:11.I will give way. The Secretary of State is very well outlining the

:50:12. > :50:18.business that this House may have to do, do this as it has to do today.

:50:19. > :50:23.But does he accept that we should not be in this place? Because of the

:50:24. > :50:26.arrogance of Sinn Fein who walked away from the Executive and has left

:50:27. > :50:31.Northern Ireland in the predicament that we're today.

:50:32. > :50:37.What I can say is that in the recent election, I think a clear mandate

:50:38. > :50:42.has been set to see the resumption of the devolved Government in

:50:43. > :50:47.Northern Ireland. An inclusive devolved Government. That is where I

:50:48. > :50:51.think the focus needs to be, getting that Executive back into position,

:50:52. > :50:54.dealing with, yes, differences that do exist between the parties in

:50:55. > :50:58.Northern Ireland. But I think the responsibility that we all should

:50:59. > :51:02.feel is that actually seeing an Executive back into position is

:51:03. > :51:05.important, working to serve the best interests and needs of the people of

:51:06. > :51:11.Northern Ireland. That is where I think our absolute and resolute

:51:12. > :51:14.intentions should lie. For completeness, although not covered

:51:15. > :51:20.in the bill, Madam Deputy Speaker, the second financial matter is the

:51:21. > :51:24.lack of 2017, 2018 budget itself. Its absence has meant that since the

:51:25. > :51:31.beginning of this month, civil servants alone have been in charge

:51:32. > :51:35.of allocating cash which is clearly not an acceptable solution for the

:51:36. > :51:39.longer term. Before Easter, I made clear they would provide further

:51:40. > :51:44.assurance in this regard is an Executive was not in place.

:51:45. > :51:46.Consistent with the UK Government's ultimate responsibility for

:51:47. > :51:50.political stability in Northern Ireland. So, I wish to take this

:51:51. > :51:54.opportunity to provide further clarity to people, businesses and

:51:55. > :51:59.public services in Northern Ireland. We very much hope, as I have said,

:52:00. > :52:06.that we will see an Executive up and running as soon as possible. But if

:52:07. > :52:10.that was not proved possible, I want to put on record that this

:52:11. > :52:15.Government would be prepared, as a last resort, to pass an

:52:16. > :52:18.appropriation act in the next session to provide legislative

:52:19. > :52:22.authority for the expenditure of Northern Ireland departments. This

:52:23. > :52:27.is not a step any Government would take lightly. But the size must not

:52:28. > :52:34.forget the duties we must uphold for the people of Northern Ireland. I

:52:35. > :52:40.will give way. He has identified a very important issue, the lack of

:52:41. > :52:43.budget. But would he accept that even with the assurances he has

:52:44. > :52:47.given the House today, there are still tens of thousands of people

:52:48. > :52:55.within the voluntary and community sector who depend upon money from

:52:56. > :52:58.Government departments. Money which they cannot be assured of at this

:52:59. > :53:07.stage. And therefore, they find that their jobs currently are in jeopardy

:53:08. > :53:11.and faced with uncertainty. The longer he leaves this decision, the

:53:12. > :53:17.more he leaves the people in that particular sector of the economy in

:53:18. > :53:21.a horrible position. He makes an honourable point about the voluntary

:53:22. > :53:23.community sector in Northern Ireland. In coming forward with the

:53:24. > :53:29.ministerial statement I have and in what I have said this afternoon, I

:53:30. > :53:33.very much have them at the forefront of my mind. Knowing that some people

:53:34. > :53:37.have been put on protective notice, the impact of uncertainty around

:53:38. > :53:42.whether payments will be continued beyond the current window. I know

:53:43. > :53:49.that assurance has already been given by the civil service and

:53:50. > :53:53.departments in funding for three months. But what further assurance

:53:54. > :53:55.can be given? Therefore, by providing comfort to permanent

:53:56. > :54:00.secretaries through the written statement I have made, I have

:54:01. > :54:04.advised Government departments will be able to extend current letters of

:54:05. > :54:09.comfort, to actually give that greater support and flexibility for

:54:10. > :54:13.the voluntary and community sector. But his broader point that he makes,

:54:14. > :54:16.about the need for greater service, max 70 and a need for the budget to

:54:17. > :54:22.be put into division, is absolutely right. This is not a situation that

:54:23. > :54:29.can continue for much longer. And therefore, it is why I have said

:54:30. > :54:32.what I have about the preparedness of this Government, if re-elected,

:54:33. > :54:35.to make steps to seek an appropriations bill in this House.

:54:36. > :54:40.Should that prove necessary. As I have indicated already, I earnestly

:54:41. > :54:43.hope that it will not prove necessary and that an Executive can

:54:44. > :54:50.and will be formed to actually make those decisions. And in making the

:54:51. > :54:53.statement I have today, it in no way cuts across the ability for an

:54:54. > :54:56.Executive itself to come into position and set a budget in due

:54:57. > :55:04.course. I give way to the honourable gentleman. One of the key points in

:55:05. > :55:07.running the budgets is the flexibility and running those

:55:08. > :55:12.budgets. We know that the civil servants will run departments will

:55:13. > :55:18.wither budgets. But the little bits of flexibility that match when we're

:55:19. > :55:21.being run as politicians to help people... How does the Secretary of

:55:22. > :55:26.State seat in the future if we have not got a functioning Assembly? Will

:55:27. > :55:28.there be some mechanism so that the people on the ground who have lost

:55:29. > :55:37.money and cannot do something can actually listen to someone? This key

:55:38. > :55:41.thing is for an Executive to be formed. That is the way that

:55:42. > :55:44.assurances and direction can be provided. The lack of political

:55:45. > :55:49.direction at the moment is one of the key aspects that underpins the

:55:50. > :55:51.need to see an Executive that needs to see prodigal decision-making

:55:52. > :55:56.being made in Northern Ireland at the earliest opportunity. But as I

:55:57. > :56:00.have indicated to the House this afternoon, it is also the

:56:01. > :56:04.preparedness of the UK Government to take action should that be

:56:05. > :56:10.necessary. And that is that sense of the responsibility that we have is

:56:11. > :56:15.the UK Government to provide the necessary political stability and

:56:16. > :56:19.assurance for the best interests of the people of Northern Ireland. I

:56:20. > :56:26.give way. To be absolutely clear about this, the Secretary of State

:56:27. > :56:32.is stating to the House today that the choice is very clear. It is

:56:33. > :56:34.devolution or direct rule. I putting in place the points made about

:56:35. > :56:41.appropriations, the ground workers being laid for direct rule, if that

:56:42. > :56:45.is required. I do not in anyway way want to prejudge the outcome of the

:56:46. > :56:48.coming weeks. I earnestly hope and believe, and want to see, devolved

:56:49. > :56:53.Government re-established in Northern Ireland. That is what is

:56:54. > :56:56.profoundly in the best interests of Northern Ireland, seeing that local

:56:57. > :57:00.decision-making. I think the strong message should come across this

:57:01. > :57:05.House of wanting to see that into position at the early stop at

:57:06. > :57:11.Trinity. -- earliest possible opportunity. I have been careful in

:57:12. > :57:14.what has said in our position in the budget, giving an assurance today in

:57:15. > :57:16.allowing flexibility for the Northern Ireland Civil Service to

:57:17. > :57:21.use the residual emergency powers that they have to be able to deal

:57:22. > :57:26.with the pressures that they are already experiencing, and to be will

:57:27. > :57:32.to ensure public services will continue to be run in the manner

:57:33. > :57:36.that they are. I have published a written ministerial statement which

:57:37. > :57:39.sets out indicated departmental allocations which reflect the budget

:57:40. > :57:47.priorities and decisions of the last Executive. These provide basis for

:57:48. > :57:50.allocations in the absence of an Executive. It is important to make

:57:51. > :57:54.the point that these are not UK Government numbers but rather

:57:55. > :57:58.reflecting the advice of the head of the Northern Ireland civil service

:57:59. > :58:01.as to his assessment of the position that takes account of the priorities

:58:02. > :58:06.of the political parties prior to the dissolution of the Assembly, as

:58:07. > :58:15.well as for the occasion is he considers are required. -- other

:58:16. > :58:20.allocations. And in relation to the basis of which they want to plan and

:58:21. > :58:25.discharge responsibilities in the meantime. However, we should be

:58:26. > :58:29.clear that these totals would not constrain the future freedom of an

:58:30. > :58:33.incoming Executive to amend spending allocations. Nor the UK Government

:58:34. > :58:38.in situations it might need to reflect upon in terms of the final

:58:39. > :58:40.allocations in the light of circumstances at the appropriate

:58:41. > :58:45.time. But I do underline the position that the bill sets out,

:58:46. > :58:51.that if agreement is not reached by the 29th of June, that in essence

:58:52. > :58:55.the electoral duty would then come back to the Secretary of State in

:58:56. > :59:00.terms of calling an election within a reasonable period of time, but

:59:01. > :59:03.obviously, any incoming Government would need to reflect very carefully

:59:04. > :59:07.on the stability and position in Northern Ireland. As I have

:59:08. > :59:12.indicated, what might be a need to deal with certain financial issues.

:59:13. > :59:16.But we need to be focused and resolutely focused on seeing that we

:59:17. > :59:26.get an Executive into position. That is precisely what this bill will

:59:27. > :59:31.allow for. I will give way. Thank you. I thank my right honourable

:59:32. > :59:34.friend for his statement. Could I ask my right honourable friend if he

:59:35. > :59:45.has seen the slightest indication from Sinn Fein that they might

:59:46. > :59:48.consider being part of an Executive in a very detailed and long

:59:49. > :59:55.negotiations he has no doubt had so far? Yes, I have. That is why I

:59:56. > :59:59.believe that agreement is possible. I believe that the discussions that

:00:00. > :00:05.have taken place over the recent weeks have shown where the space for

:00:06. > :00:08.agreement might live. Where the space for compromise might lie. And

:00:09. > :00:13.that is why it is important that this bill provides that space and

:00:14. > :00:17.opportunity for the parties to be able to find resolution of the

:00:18. > :00:20.outstanding issues. And get back into devolved Government, which is

:00:21. > :00:24.what the people of Northern Ireland voted for. To go back to the point

:00:25. > :00:28.of the budget, the budget does not allocate, for example, to be clear,

:00:29. > :00:33.the resource in capital funding provided the Chancellor's March

:00:34. > :00:36.budget. This funding was not allocated before the dissolution of

:00:37. > :00:39.the last Executive and we believe it is right that funding is available

:00:40. > :00:45.for parties to allocate two father priorities as they deem appropriate.

:00:46. > :00:48.For the detail on these -- other detail on the spending plans will

:00:49. > :00:52.have to be provided through the appropriation act itself. My hope is

:00:53. > :00:57.the act will be when taken for the Northern Ireland Assembly but that

:00:58. > :01:01.relies on the Executive being formed and, as I have indicated, with a

:01:02. > :01:04.focus should live. But if not, as I have said, we would be prepared to

:01:05. > :01:08.legislate to provide certainty in line with our ultimate

:01:09. > :01:13.responsibility. Political this possibility and good governance in

:01:14. > :01:20.Northern Ireland. -- political stability. Can the Secretary of

:01:21. > :01:23.State clarify whether such legislation, in that context, would,

:01:24. > :01:29.in his mind, and meant to direct rule in the sense that we have

:01:30. > :01:31.always known it? Or would it be some sort of downloadable legislative

:01:32. > :01:38.cover for administrative governance, when it comes to budgets? Again, I

:01:39. > :01:43.would not want to prejudge what the situation might be. That will be for

:01:44. > :01:48.an incoming Government. But my point remains that that does not need to

:01:49. > :01:52.be the outcome. The outcome we want to see is an Executive being formed.

:01:53. > :01:54.The outcome you want to see is devolved Government being put into

:01:55. > :01:58.place, making decisions within Northern Ireland for the people of

:01:59. > :02:03.Ireland. That is why I make the point that I do in terms of what

:02:04. > :02:07.this bill provides, how it does give the space to allow that to happen.

:02:08. > :02:12.And that must be the focus of all of us in the time ahead. I believe that

:02:13. > :02:18.in passing this bill, we can provide the scope and space for a deal to be

:02:19. > :02:22.done by the parties. And it will be working intensively with the parties

:02:23. > :02:28.to ensure that that outcome appears in the weeks ahead. Northern Ireland

:02:29. > :02:32.needs to see the restoration of an inclusive devolved Government

:02:33. > :02:35.working in Northern Ireland's best interests. That is what the people

:02:36. > :02:39.of Northern Ireland voted for and that is what will deliver the public

:02:40. > :02:43.services that people rely upon. That is what businesses, community groups

:02:44. > :02:51.and individuals across more violent want to see. -- across Northern

:02:52. > :02:56.Ireland. I commend this bill to the House. The question is, the bill now

:02:57. > :03:06.bear the second time. Mr David Anderson. -- now be read.

:03:07. > :03:13.Thank you very much. Can I start by agreeing totally with the words from

:03:14. > :03:16.the Secretary of State about what happened yesterday. It clearly is

:03:17. > :03:20.not where we need to be in Northern Ireland. It is probably the main

:03:21. > :03:23.reason why we need to get this resolution and get Executive of them

:03:24. > :03:30.running again. I also thank and very kindly for the worse he said about

:03:31. > :03:33.me. I congratulate him on the work he has done and shared with me over

:03:34. > :03:42.the past difficult times to try and find a way forward. This is a debate

:03:43. > :03:46.did not want to be taken because the reality is that this is combined

:03:47. > :03:55.political failure on behalf of all politicians right across these

:03:56. > :04:01.islands. It has led to this sad situation facing us today. Not many

:04:02. > :04:06.years ago, the world looked on with the mature Maze and and admiration

:04:07. > :04:10.when politicians put to one side centuries of animosity and hate to

:04:11. > :04:20.build a new future for the people they serve. -- with amazement. I am

:04:21. > :04:28.mindful of the issues that have caused the current impasse that has

:04:29. > :04:33.brought us here today. Northern Ireland has seen drastic changes in

:04:34. > :04:35.the past few decades. Difficult challenges are still to come but the

:04:36. > :04:43.current charges should not be, by any means, insurmountable. Serious

:04:44. > :04:46.matters faced as in 2008 and in 2007, but the repercussions of

:04:47. > :04:53.failure here are equally as serious and dangerous.

:04:54. > :04:57.I believe with goodwill and all size, agreement can be reached but

:04:58. > :05:01.people will have to reach compromise. I also wish to highlight

:05:02. > :05:06.one of the main sticking points but forward Bridges about the quality. I

:05:07. > :05:12.would say to the honourable member who raised the issue before about

:05:13. > :05:17.the intransigent Sinn Fein. None of those are surprised that Sinn Fein.

:05:18. > :05:24.What has surprised me about the position we find ourselves in is how

:05:25. > :05:27.strong these feelings about the present Executive go right across

:05:28. > :05:32.the nationalist community. It isn't just one political party who has

:05:33. > :05:38.real concerns. One issue of concern is the failure to move on equality

:05:39. > :05:45.legislation. The Democratic Unionist Party is proudly a party of June in

:05:46. > :05:48.as and yet they seek to limit the quality and rights to people in

:05:49. > :05:54.Northern Ireland. The access to abortion and the rights of members

:05:55. > :06:00.of the LGBT community that I a real part of the United Kingdom. They

:06:01. > :06:03.widely oppose this Bill it has been extended to the United Kingdom. Why

:06:04. > :06:08.should two people who love each other not be able to show that in a

:06:09. > :06:12.formal marriage ceremony in Northern Ireland as they can in the rest of

:06:13. > :06:15.Great Britain? And why should a woman in Northern Ireland not have

:06:16. > :06:22.the right to choose what she does with her own body? Should these

:06:23. > :06:27.ideas of equality and fairness that fact as cordially idea of identity

:06:28. > :06:32.as core to me as they are Deborah Nelson on these islands. Another

:06:33. > :06:37.sticking point which we are seeing progress on is the issue of the

:06:38. > :06:41.Irish language. Again it is another example of rights that are enjoyed

:06:42. > :06:46.by other people across Great Britain are not available in over the

:06:47. > :06:53.island. This is seen as part of the fact that in Wales and in Scotland

:06:54. > :06:56.that there is legislation that provides protections for their

:06:57. > :07:03.respective indigenous languages. Even in Cornwall, there is counsel

:07:04. > :07:13.for Cornish language strategy. Why does the Northern Irish treaty want

:07:14. > :07:16.to... I will give way. I think before the shadow spokesman

:07:17. > :07:21.pontificates on these issues he should at least try and get his

:07:22. > :07:27.facts right in Northern Ireland, 100s and the ?1 million has already

:07:28. > :07:31.been spent on giving the Irish language community the ability to

:07:32. > :07:35.have their own schools, some schools have been opened at less than 14

:07:36. > :07:41.children. They have street names if they wish to have them. Britain and

:07:42. > :07:46.the Irish. Letter headings and apartments in Irish line which. A

:07:47. > :07:51.whole range of other kinds of issues at rest. If years later talked about

:07:52. > :07:57.the promotion of the Irish language, at least get his vice right before

:07:58. > :08:02.he starts pontificating. I'm more than happy to... He's got more

:08:03. > :08:06.practice at that and I have. The point I'm making is there is a

:08:07. > :08:10.difference in the protections in Northern Ireland and that is what is

:08:11. > :08:14.being asked for by the nationalist community. They do not have the same

:08:15. > :08:19.legislative basis as they do in Wales and Scotland. That is one of

:08:20. > :08:22.the things that politicians in Northern Ireland could put right

:08:23. > :08:25.tomorrow. They could have put it right over the last ten years, they

:08:26. > :08:29.could have put it right since the talks broke down in January. They

:08:30. > :08:38.have chosen so far not to. I will indeed. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

:08:39. > :08:43.The shadow Secretary of State is going through a list of the Sinn

:08:44. > :08:47.Fein demands. I just wish he would come and talk to us from time to

:08:48. > :08:51.time, because we have issues, and one of the issues is the Armed

:08:52. > :08:54.Forces covenant which is implemented in full in every other part of the

:08:55. > :08:58.United Kingdom except for modern Ireland. Where the shadow Secretary

:08:59. > :09:03.of State now join us in demanding that Sinn Fein honour that

:09:04. > :09:13.obligation and agreed to fully implement the Armed Forces covenant

:09:14. > :09:18.in the violent? No I have a lot of respect for him, he says I promoting

:09:19. > :09:20.what Sinn Fein is saying will stop these are the issues that have led

:09:21. > :09:25.to the impasse. They are not just Sinn Fein issues, and it is for this

:09:26. > :09:28.House and the people outside, the rest of Great Britain, who might not

:09:29. > :09:32.have the inside knowledge that the member has that I am raising these

:09:33. > :09:36.issues for. To try and define where problems are and try to point out

:09:37. > :09:40.the magic and negotiate your way out of this if you want, but the point

:09:41. > :09:44.of talking to his body, the net with his leader last week on these very

:09:45. > :09:48.issues and I was very pleased to see that she is prepared to have

:09:49. > :09:54.discussions across the board, so in that example we are trying to work

:09:55. > :10:02.as we always have in a nonpartisan way. On the covenant, please to see

:10:03. > :10:04.my honourable friend the chairman of the Northern Ireland select

:10:05. > :10:09.committee, we work together on the Armed Forces covenant, the report on

:10:10. > :10:13.which we agreed, to call on all parties to do the right thing by the

:10:14. > :10:19.people who have served our country, so I don't take any lessons on the

:10:20. > :10:23.covenant from the member behind me. Other discussions that the party had

:10:24. > :10:26.been having, gleefully can reach the agreement which is beneficial to the

:10:27. > :10:30.Irish language community, but also to the point that has been raised

:10:31. > :10:36.with me by his leader in novel and Islands that what we want is more

:10:37. > :10:41.support for the needs and heritage of the Ulster Scots community. I

:10:42. > :10:45.believe that could be negotiated if people were serious about trying to

:10:46. > :10:50.find a way forward. I understand that some of the reasons why some of

:10:51. > :10:55.the parties in Northern Ireland are against legislating for an act is

:10:56. > :10:59.because it was seen as a side deal that was done by Tony Blair many

:11:00. > :11:04.years ago. That might have right or wrong time, it moved things on, I'm

:11:05. > :11:07.saying now it is another thing that could be done today, a relatively

:11:08. > :11:13.small step in the right direction, to try and resolve the issues that

:11:14. > :11:16.are outstanding. I will give. Does he honestly believe that any of the

:11:17. > :11:22.things that he has read out today from the dispatch box have isolated

:11:23. > :11:26.the breakdown of the Assembly? Does he really in his heart believe any

:11:27. > :11:31.of that? And if he does, he's really saying to this House that he does

:11:32. > :11:35.not believe in devilish and armour because no region of the United

:11:36. > :11:38.Kingdom should have its differences recognised. Revolution has allowed

:11:39. > :11:42.for that. On the basis of devolution, the Honourable member

:11:43. > :11:50.says no, everything should just be the same. As someone who is a

:11:51. > :11:57.passionate supporter, I do not take that glitters is. I believe that we

:11:58. > :12:03.have got a situation that is at breaking point. We need to find a

:12:04. > :12:05.way forward. I spent all my life in negotiating situations in constant

:12:06. > :12:10.revolution as a trade union representative before I came to this

:12:11. > :12:13.House. The truth is we have a situation that should be resolvable,

:12:14. > :12:18.but as long as people are saying they are not prepared to move I've

:12:19. > :12:23.met on both sides, I am pretty come on other things, but let's be

:12:24. > :12:29.prepared to move, will end up with the reality that this House will

:12:30. > :12:33.probably have to take back direct control in Northern Ireland and that

:12:34. > :12:37.way nobody 's's interests. It would not be an interest in revolution or

:12:38. > :12:44.in the interest of people governing themselves. I want to move on to the

:12:45. > :12:48.issue of legacy. One of the biggest issues facing all of ours market has

:12:49. > :12:55.been for many years. Both how we deal with Northern Irish tragic

:12:56. > :12:59.past. The truth is we all us, collectively failed the victims of

:13:00. > :13:06.the Troubles. It only serves to compound are suffering through our

:13:07. > :13:09.lack of action. Regardless of the background or if they have served in

:13:10. > :13:14.uniform, we are depriving them and their families the truth and the

:13:15. > :13:21.closure that many of them want. The truth regardless of how hard it is

:13:22. > :13:25.must be heard. I have heard details of many different cases from

:13:26. > :13:31.families who've lost loved ones. But one in particular stayed with me, a

:13:32. > :13:38.case of Samuel Devaney. I met with his family last year, I was informed

:13:39. > :13:45.then about the death and the details surrounding his death in 1969. I

:13:46. > :13:49.would like a House to bear in mind that that is almost 50 years ago.

:13:50. > :13:54.That family have never had access to the relevant files. Files that are

:13:55. > :13:59.now held by the Metropolitan Police and were due to be released to the

:14:00. > :14:04.National Archives, but yet again they had been reclassified as they

:14:05. > :14:11.had been retained by the police service until at least 2022. That

:14:12. > :14:16.cannot be anything other than a travesty. Think about 1969, a very

:14:17. > :14:21.different world, I was a 15-year-old boy, starting work as a coalminer.

:14:22. > :14:25.England has won the World Cup couple of years before. We had joined the

:14:26. > :14:30.Common market, we met two years away. I thought that we get a cheer.

:14:31. > :14:34.We were two years away from a decimalisation, maybe that's the

:14:35. > :14:38.next campaign began one. Brian Jones were still in the Rolling Stones,

:14:39. > :14:49.Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, they were still alive and making music.

:14:50. > :14:54.During that time, on the 19th of April, Mr Devaney died at the hands

:14:55. > :14:57.of officers from the RUC who would never prosecuted due to lack of

:14:58. > :15:04.evidence. Mr Devaney was seen as one of the first victims of the

:15:05. > :15:08.Troubles, and still today has family pleading for justice. This is as one

:15:09. > :15:11.of the many cases in Northern Ireland where lack of progress in

:15:12. > :15:17.countless Government, both Labour and Conservative, a dereliction of

:15:18. > :15:23.duty in Westminster. I'm not making a special case, other than the fact

:15:24. > :15:31.of how long it has gone on with out closure for his family. It is

:15:32. > :15:34.utterly unacceptable. He is making a very powerful speech that seems to

:15:35. > :15:38.include everything that has ever been committed by every person in

:15:39. > :15:41.Northern Ireland. We do not accept that perhaps today has this

:15:42. > :15:47.parliament comes to a close, and there is a clear financial

:15:48. > :15:49.imperative to see that the Northern Ireland Government is able to

:15:50. > :15:52.continue, certainly through the period of our election when the

:15:53. > :15:56.minister will be somewhat constrained, and certainly through

:15:57. > :15:58.the period of Northern Ireland's Assembly's demolition, when the

:15:59. > :16:03.Government body can chain, would not be helpful perhaps to look

:16:04. > :16:06.positively on how he can assist the Secretary of State, who has made a

:16:07. > :16:11.statesman-like speech, helping to bring people together rather than a

:16:12. > :16:21.device of wine which is more in tune with his party's leadership and with

:16:22. > :16:24.his own spirit. What I'm telling you is these are the realities on the

:16:25. > :16:29.ground. It is right and proper this House, here's what the opticals are,

:16:30. > :16:34.we have thought about these item for item of the last months to try and

:16:35. > :16:39.find your way of resolving them. These are issues, but they are not

:16:40. > :16:48.huge issues. This is not people going to jail as they were 20 years

:16:49. > :16:52.ago, not people being pardoned. This is relatively small issues but

:16:53. > :17:02.genuine ones. We cannot resolve the issue of equalities, or the issue of

:17:03. > :17:05.legacy, though we here for? He talks about Northern Ireland, I would

:17:06. > :17:09.remind him the Northern Irish Government... We will be supporting

:17:10. > :17:13.without a doubt, I have also had discussions with the civil service

:17:14. > :17:17.and I am determined that they are allowed to have the powers they need

:17:18. > :17:20.to carry on supporting the public service of Northern Ireland, because

:17:21. > :17:26.I'm a supporter and that is one of the reasons why am involved in this.

:17:27. > :17:29.I am grateful to him, but given the fact we are trying to achieve some

:17:30. > :17:35.consensus here and talk about these things any serious way, he would no

:17:36. > :17:38.doubt wish to on citing examples on one side when ignores that there are

:17:39. > :17:44.still many families in Northern Ireland who have never had a public

:17:45. > :17:47.enquiry or indeed an explanation from Sinn Fein or the IRA as to what

:17:48. > :17:50.happened in love ones. I think there is only fair that he should now

:17:51. > :17:58.reflect on that perhaps say something about that, too. I'm happy

:17:59. > :18:05.to accept intervention, and I did make the point I only used the case

:18:06. > :18:14.because of how long ago it was. If we cannot resolve matters, just as

:18:15. > :18:17.genuine human beings, forget whatever your party affiliation is,

:18:18. > :18:23.if we cannot say it is not right, that 40 years and something happened

:18:24. > :18:32.at the families should not have the chance to... A report has been done

:18:33. > :18:37.and here's the reason behind it. I give way to the honourable lady. I

:18:38. > :18:42.am grateful for giving way. And sorry I wasn't here for the opening

:18:43. > :18:46.remarks. I was here and I'm to hear his remarks about Mr Devaney and the

:18:47. > :18:53.mention of the Royal Constabulary. My late husband was very proud, an

:18:54. > :18:57.extraordinary men and women who served with courage and made an

:18:58. > :19:01.extraordinary sacrifice, 302 murdered RUC officers, I wonder if

:19:02. > :19:05.the honourable Geoff would like to put on record his gratitude and

:19:06. > :19:14.admiration body RUC during the Troubles. I've fully will do that

:19:15. > :19:16.and intended to do it anyway. I had prepared, I think it will confirm

:19:17. > :19:19.the work we have done together, although we might have a different

:19:20. > :19:25.view on the verge of Ireland, we have worked together had recognised

:19:26. > :19:29.the role they have played. In raising these issues about legacy,

:19:30. > :19:32.it is about as much as getting the truth of people have been unjustly

:19:33. > :19:38.castigated for something that was not their fault, and they had for

:19:39. > :19:43.years when they don't have... If we don't have clarity and we don't have

:19:44. > :19:49.honestly, we will never get there. I will give way. You for giving way.

:19:50. > :19:55.Can I help him with an example following on from the comments of

:19:56. > :19:59.the noble member for northbound? My cousin, Samuel Donaldson, was

:20:00. > :20:05.murdered by the provisional IRA on the 12th of August 19 70. With his

:20:06. > :20:09.colleague cousin Roy Miller. Ever the first two RUC officers to be

:20:10. > :20:13.murdered in the provisional hiring what has been known as the troubles.

:20:14. > :20:19.No one has ever been brought to justice for their killings. The IRA,

:20:20. > :20:22.Sinn Fein have refused to cooperate in providing the information that

:20:23. > :20:27.would enable those responsible to be brought to justice. I would call

:20:28. > :20:33.upon the Shadow Secretary of State to join us in calling for Sinn Fein

:20:34. > :20:37.to step forward to the plate and to own up and come clean and to give

:20:38. > :20:39.the information to families who have been waiting for decades for truth

:20:40. > :20:46.and justice. I did not agree more with the

:20:47. > :20:58.honourable gentleman. I believe that is part and parcel of democratically

:20:59. > :21:04.elected politicians, making sure no-one runs away from that. Anyone

:21:05. > :21:08.who has been killed as a result of trouble in Northern Ireland,

:21:09. > :21:12.civilians, paramilitary or the selfies individuals who protected

:21:13. > :21:16.Northern Ireland, the Armed Forces and in the RUC, they all deserve the

:21:17. > :21:23.truth. I call on all parties to do all they can to make that truth

:21:24. > :21:27.known. Indeed. I am grateful for him giving way. He

:21:28. > :21:31.mentions the contribution of the Armed Forces in Northern Ireland. As

:21:32. > :21:35.a former soldier, I wondered if he would confirm his belief that the

:21:36. > :21:37.British army should not be subject to further investigations for the

:21:38. > :21:42.actions that they took during the troubles? Will he confirm that his

:21:43. > :21:47.party, under its current leadership, have their loyalty firmly with the

:21:48. > :21:55.British army, not the IRA? It is quite clear, from my point of view,

:21:56. > :21:59.that if people in uniform did not act correctly, I am sorry, I cannot

:22:00. > :22:05.agree that they should not be brought to book. Because what signal

:22:06. > :22:10.would be sent out? That it is right to act out of order? We expect the

:22:11. > :22:13.highest standards from all our people in uniform. In terms of his

:22:14. > :22:17.comments on the leadership, it is very clear that my party is

:22:18. > :22:22.committed to our Armed Forces and not any terrorist organisation. Will

:22:23. > :22:25.hear except, however, and this is the point member opposite was trying

:22:26. > :22:30.to make, that any incident in either the police or the army were

:22:31. > :22:42.involved, and we are there was a killing, should not be treated as if

:22:43. > :22:48.it were murder? That is what causes the anger in so many families. Every

:22:49. > :22:53.killing by terrorists was no doubt a murder. It was illegal. But

:22:54. > :22:56.incidents where police officers and armed services were involved were

:22:57. > :23:00.the protection of life and property and they should not be chased by

:23:01. > :23:06.authorities as they are that present as if something illegal was

:23:07. > :23:12.involved. I am very clear. It is obvious that the fast majority of

:23:13. > :23:20.things done by the Armed Forces were not murder. But the process of

:23:21. > :23:25.investigation needs to be put back together again and we need to get to

:23:26. > :23:30.the bottom of it. If there are some cases that could be construed, this

:23:31. > :23:33.is quite clearly in the agreement, the papers signed in the past to try

:23:34. > :23:38.and make this work, we have to get the root of this and it has to be

:23:39. > :23:44.aired in public. But as we say. I agree with the vast majority of

:23:45. > :23:53.things that were done that we are in no sense murder by the Armed Forces.

:23:54. > :24:00.In the interest of Northern Ireland and the Government, we have to get

:24:01. > :24:03.the legacy stuff resolved properly. We at Label except there will be

:24:04. > :24:14.some genuine issues on the National Security Council. -- at Labour. But

:24:15. > :24:17.let's never use the National is -- security to cover up the wrong

:24:18. > :24:20.doings of the state. I include my former colleagues in Labour

:24:21. > :24:26.Government as well as his informer Conservative governments. Thank you

:24:27. > :24:30.for giving way. Before you go so the issue of legacy, he spent some time

:24:31. > :24:40.detailing a case which is a legacy case. I challenge him. The detail in

:24:41. > :24:47.the other case that lists a unionist grievance, does he know any Unionist

:24:48. > :24:51.grievances? I do. But they are not prepared to discuss it today

:24:52. > :24:58.because... I will tell him exactly. I use that case because of her Libor

:24:59. > :25:03.was. And I made it very clear. He probably wasn't listening. Usually

:25:04. > :25:07.doesn't. Perhaps he wasn't. I make no differentiation between victims,

:25:08. > :25:10.whoever they were, however they died, how they were injured. They

:25:11. > :25:20.all deserve the right to have a system put in place that lets...

:25:21. > :25:23.That is what has been failed by politicians in Northern Ireland. You

:25:24. > :25:26.have not had a system that works properly. We have to build genuine

:25:27. > :25:30.openness and confidence and trust. If we don't, then people will not

:25:31. > :25:38.ever be able to move this country forward. Another issue I want to

:25:39. > :25:42.raise, moving on from the legacy issue, is discussions that have been

:25:43. > :25:45.taking place between political parties in the last few months about

:25:46. > :25:52.the abuse of the petition of concern. It was put in place in the

:25:53. > :25:57.original agreement to discuss issues around the abuse of power by one

:25:58. > :26:01.community against another. It was to make sure it could not happen in

:26:02. > :26:04.institutions. It is still being used as a Beatle for progress. This is

:26:05. > :26:11.not the intent and we must try and get back to the original intent.

:26:12. > :26:14.Very grateful to the honourable gentleman for giving way. On that

:26:15. > :26:20.particular point, I do agree with him. One year ago, he might have

:26:21. > :26:23.been in a meeting, I don't know. When I had the meeting with the then

:26:24. > :26:27.first master Peter Robinson and the late Martin McGuinness, made that

:26:28. > :26:34.very point to them. They both defended the petition of concern

:26:35. > :26:40.process. -- the then First Minister. I tend to agree with him but that is

:26:41. > :26:44.what you come up against. I have no doubt that people who want to use it

:26:45. > :26:47.for the purposes of what I said, i.e., a foetal, and not genuinely

:26:48. > :26:54.resolving problems, would say that. Of course they would. But this is

:26:55. > :26:58.part and parcel of me trying to say, let's try and find a way to get this

:26:59. > :27:02.Executive up and running again. It is not about scoring points or

:27:03. > :27:06.making points about things that happened 40 years ago. These are the

:27:07. > :27:12.issues that people are telling me. This is why we cannot sit down here.

:27:13. > :27:15.I am saying, any reasonable human being should try to find a way

:27:16. > :27:21.through this. Another one I want to address is a point again that I

:27:22. > :27:25.believe agreement could be reached on. It is around the renewable

:27:26. > :27:32.heating initiative. The fig we were all told was the straw that broke

:27:33. > :27:38.the camel's back. -- the thing. When enquiry comes out, we will work to

:27:39. > :27:45.make sure that any funding shortfall is not landed directly on the

:27:46. > :27:48.grounds of Northern Ireland, unless there is a way it can be managed

:27:49. > :27:53.over a period of time. That is very important, so we do not end up

:27:54. > :28:00.losing funding for vital public service is well this is cleaned up.

:28:01. > :28:03.We need to trust each other and move away from entrenched positions. I

:28:04. > :28:08.will say this to Sinn Fein. Drop your demands for the leader of the

:28:09. > :28:15.DUP to stand aside while this enquiry goes on. I ask for

:28:16. > :28:19.assurances that she will cooperate with the enquiry fully, except

:28:20. > :28:22.outcomes and will not hinder progress in any way. I will be a

:28:23. > :28:27.huge step in the direction of the building the trust and confidence

:28:28. > :28:33.that allowed sworn enemies to govern Northern Ireland in previous years.

:28:34. > :28:40.I hope that people will take what I have said today in the it is bent.

:28:41. > :28:43.-- it is meant. The issues that I am being told by people other reasons

:28:44. > :28:48.why the system fell apart. Some people might be cynical and say,

:28:49. > :28:53.that is not the reasons. No doubt we will hear that in the next few

:28:54. > :28:57.hours. But I am being told these are the issues and this is how we should

:28:58. > :29:01.move forward. I am sad we are in this decision today -- situation

:29:02. > :29:05.today before a general election because the Government failed to

:29:06. > :29:10.realise the impact on Northern Ireland. It is sad that the approach

:29:11. > :29:14.taken by the Government in the last few years. The lack of dialogue at

:29:15. > :29:19.present with the Prime Minister and the last Prime Minister have done

:29:20. > :29:21.nothing to let the Eagle of Northern Ireland now that the more than an

:29:22. > :29:26.after thought this Government's mind. It is still a situation of

:29:27. > :29:31.conflict resolution. -- the people of Northern Ireland. I welcome this

:29:32. > :29:41.legislation because it does provide more time for discussions about the

:29:42. > :29:43.formation of an Executive. The Government did not think of the

:29:44. > :29:47.effect this would have on the people of Northern Ireland. Frankly, this

:29:48. > :29:51.bill does not represent direct rule, which it might well have. So I am

:29:52. > :29:59.pleased we have got battered away, at least in the short term. It does

:30:00. > :30:05.set them a mean it is important to set important services for Northern

:30:06. > :30:12.Ireland and fill the gap in the short-term. When this bill gets

:30:13. > :30:19.Royal Ascent hopefully Don Foster, we will sit down and Friday and work

:30:20. > :30:22.it out. I would suggest every one of the things I have laid out today can

:30:23. > :30:28.be resolved if people want to resolve them. If they do not want to

:30:29. > :30:35.do that, we will be back here... I will not be, but some people will be

:30:36. > :30:39.back in a few weeks' time to sort it out. I sadly believe that what we

:30:40. > :30:46.saw Northern Ireland previously might well be repeated. People are

:30:47. > :30:49.said, we tried 20 years to work together, it is never going to

:30:50. > :30:54.happen, it will never work and the only way is to go back to what we

:30:55. > :31:00.are... Wear. None of us should access that and we have to stop that

:31:01. > :31:05.happening. -- access that. Point of order, Mr Paisley.

:31:06. > :31:09.The shadow secretary, when he made his beach, indicated he would list

:31:10. > :31:13.the number of grievances, and number of issues to do with legacy. -- made

:31:14. > :31:18.his speech. Could you confirm the time we have left in this debate?

:31:19. > :31:20.The shadow secretary believed he was running out of time and he does have

:31:21. > :31:26.sufficient time to make those lists available to the House. I thank him

:31:27. > :31:33.for his point of order. Part of it, I can answer. I would expect this

:31:34. > :31:38.part of this debate to, the second reading of the debate, to last until

:31:39. > :31:43.16 minutes past eight. There is plenty of time. As to the content of

:31:44. > :31:47.the speech, indeed the valedictory speech made by the right honourable

:31:48. > :31:53.gentleman from the dispatch box, it is not a matter for me, but entirely

:31:54. > :31:56.a matter for the honourable gentleman. I am sure that if he has

:31:57. > :32:00.something further to add to what he has said, he will find an

:32:01. > :32:06.opportunity in the next three hours to see it. We do of course have,

:32:07. > :32:11.hopefully later today, the third reading debate after the second

:32:12. > :32:17.reading debate, when I will expect to hear some more speeches from both

:32:18. > :32:24.sides of the House. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Can

:32:25. > :32:27.I join the Secretary of State in his condemnation of the actions which

:32:28. > :32:33.were taken yesterday. Another attempt to kill innocent men, women

:32:34. > :32:37.and children. And it is totally acceptable in any part of the world.

:32:38. > :32:41.And to think that is continuing in the United Kingdom is apparent to

:32:42. > :32:46.all right thinking people. I join him in his condemnation of that.

:32:47. > :32:53.Canales congratulate him on the work is done in last few weeks, which

:32:54. > :32:57.probably seemed like months to him. Yesterday's absolute utmost, I know,

:32:58. > :33:00.to bring the parties together in Northern Ireland, to get the

:33:01. > :33:04.institutions and running again. I would also like to thank for keeping

:33:05. > :33:11.in touch with me, as chairperson of the select committee, and I thank

:33:12. > :33:14.him for that and wish him well in his future with discussions. But

:33:15. > :33:20.also, I pay tribute to the honourable member on his performance

:33:21. > :33:23.over many, many years in this House. He has worked here many years and

:33:24. > :33:27.there was very sorry to hear that he is not going to seek re-election to

:33:28. > :33:32.Parliament. He was a long-standing and very active and extremely good

:33:33. > :33:37.member of the select committee for many years before he took up his

:33:38. > :33:41.present position. He is, I can confirm, Madam Deputy is bigger, it

:33:42. > :33:46.often negotiate. -- Madam Deputy Speaker. But he is a fair man and it

:33:47. > :33:52.was a pleasure working with them. I wish them well for the future. It is

:33:53. > :33:58.unfortunate that we have to be here yet again to discuss these matters.

:33:59. > :34:03.It is unfortunate that the rates have to be set from this place. That

:34:04. > :34:08.is not entirely democratic. It is not, in any way, satisfactorily.

:34:09. > :34:12.Following an election where there was a high turnout of voters, we end

:34:13. > :34:17.up taking decisions here in this place, which should be rightly taken

:34:18. > :34:21.in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, it is worse than that because that

:34:22. > :34:26.is just a microcosm of a bigger situation. I do know that there are

:34:27. > :34:30.individuals, businesses and many others in Northern Ireland that

:34:31. > :34:34.really do see the breaking down of institutions as a distraction from

:34:35. > :34:37.what they want to do. Only last week, I had a meeting with the

:34:38. > :34:40.business that wants to expand and wants to bring potentially hundreds

:34:41. > :34:45.of jobs to Northern Ireland. And they did not know where they are.

:34:46. > :34:49.They did not know what the situation is. They do not know how the

:34:50. > :34:52.planning process will work because it is a large application. They

:34:53. > :34:57.really do regret this situation and it is not one that any of us want to

:34:58. > :35:01.find ourselves in, but here we are again.

:35:02. > :35:07.And glad that the Secretary of State outline the options because if it is

:35:08. > :35:11.found, he didn't use the words direct rule, but that is also what

:35:12. > :35:14.we are sliding towards if we cannot get the institutions up and running

:35:15. > :35:20.in Northern Ireland. It is not something I want to see happen. But

:35:21. > :35:24.I do want to see that the concerns the Company made with the last week

:35:25. > :35:28.are addressed. I won individual to create the jobs in Northern Ireland

:35:29. > :35:35.without the distraction of repeated elections or decisions being taken

:35:36. > :35:40.in a place far away, that is not what those kind of people want. Just

:35:41. > :35:44.a couple of weeks ago I was in Northern Ireland on a social visit,

:35:45. > :35:49.speaking to friends over there, actually Catholics if that is an

:35:50. > :35:54.important factor, it is an important factor because of what I'm about to

:35:55. > :35:58.say. They said to be, get on with it, bring direct rule back, that is

:35:59. > :36:01.the only way we're going to get any decisions taken. They don't

:36:02. > :36:05.particularly want to see that, most people probably don't want to, but

:36:06. > :36:09.if it is a choice between chaos and direct rule, people will go for

:36:10. > :36:13.direct rule. They have too. It is rarely unfortunate that we have got

:36:14. > :36:18.to that position, I can I just say to those who are likely to bring

:36:19. > :36:21.about that situation, and it is not people who are present in the

:36:22. > :36:25.chamber today, in my belief, it is people who refused to take their

:36:26. > :36:30.seats in this chamber, it really would be rather paradoxical, strange

:36:31. > :36:34.that the one party that don't want rule from this place are fighting a

:36:35. > :36:41.party that brings it about. How odd that be? Let me just perhaps if they

:36:42. > :36:45.are listening about what direct rule really means, I was a shadow

:36:46. > :36:48.minister when we had it in the previous parliament, it doesn't been

:36:49. > :36:53.actually that this chamber decides everything, it doesn't mean that. It

:36:54. > :37:00.means there are committees upstairs of 20 or so members, hand-picked by

:37:01. > :37:05.the whips, very few of those members would be from Northern Ireland

:37:06. > :37:08.because of the mathematics of it. Things, very important matters are

:37:09. > :37:12.decided in this committee. That is the reality of direct rule. I would

:37:13. > :37:16.say to those who are getting in the way obvious that set up again is

:37:17. > :37:22.that how you want Northern Ireland to be governed? We accept that Sinn

:37:23. > :37:26.Fein have got form on this issue. When they want to dodge, and this

:37:27. > :37:32.has never got some resonance in the current situation, when they want to

:37:33. > :37:40.dodge hard decisions, they are quite happy despite their rhetoric to hand

:37:41. > :37:43.powers back to Westminster for the hard decisions to be made, as they

:37:44. > :37:50.did with welfare reform about a year and they have a go. The honourable

:37:51. > :37:55.gentleman makes a very good point, I don't know what their logic is. I

:37:56. > :38:02.genuinely don't know. As I've said, the other party that shout the

:38:03. > :38:07.loudest about their opposition to British rule, and yet they seem to

:38:08. > :38:11.be the party that are about to bring it about. Certainly cannot

:38:12. > :38:16.understand the logic of that position. As I say, I don't want to

:38:17. > :38:21.go down that road. There is time to avoid that road. But I think that

:38:22. > :38:27.taxes onto the next point, and that about power-sharing. All sides, the

:38:28. > :38:31.say no to power-sharing, have good except what that means, which is

:38:32. > :38:37.working with people you don't necessarily like, want to work with.

:38:38. > :38:42.It means compromising on certain policies, you don't always get the

:38:43. > :38:47.exact policy that you want. Come to think of it, I suppose every

:38:48. > :38:50.political party is like that. We all have discussions within political

:38:51. > :38:54.parties, we all have disagreements on policy within political parties.

:38:55. > :38:58.We all have to work within political parties with people who perhaps we

:38:59. > :39:02.don't want to work with. That is the reality of politics. That is the

:39:03. > :39:05.reality of many jobs. If you work in a company, of course you have to

:39:06. > :39:09.work with people you don't like. Of course you have to work on policies

:39:10. > :39:13.with people you might not agree with. That is the nature of work. If

:39:14. > :39:17.they are not prepared to accept those compromises, if they are going

:39:18. > :39:21.to run away every time there a difference of opinion, take the ball

:39:22. > :39:26.home and Bingley is the juices down, it won't work. They have to except

:39:27. > :39:32.that all parties -- parties and not just talk about one party, all

:39:33. > :39:40.parties have except that. By all means. Madam Deputy Speaker, is the

:39:41. > :39:47.member... I'm not here to represent Sinn Fein, but as the members

:39:48. > :39:50.seriously suggesting that we should have turned a blind eye to the

:39:51. > :39:57.crisis over the new build the initiative and done nothing? The

:39:58. > :40:03.member to my mind is ignoring the fact that this crisis was triggered

:40:04. > :40:07.by a serious issue of confidence that needs to be resolved and needs

:40:08. > :40:10.to be dealt with. While other things have piled in controller abuse and

:40:11. > :40:16.there's a lot of it coming from the bench here behind me, but the point

:40:17. > :40:19.is this, it serves no purpose and if we had to go forward we need to

:40:20. > :40:23.restore devolution in Northern Ireland, and we're going to do that,

:40:24. > :40:30.we have to behave in a sane and sensible and mature fashion and

:40:31. > :40:32.recognise the fact... It is a pleasure working with the honourable

:40:33. > :40:40.gentleman on the select committee as well, and the bid is a great deal of

:40:41. > :40:42.calm and common sense to it. I understand what he's saying, had I'm

:40:43. > :40:45.not saying it should be brushed under the carpet, but I don't see

:40:46. > :40:52.why they could not have been an enquiry carried on with the then

:40:53. > :40:58.First Minister still in place. I think to risk bringing the whole

:40:59. > :41:04.institutions down on any issue, I don't think that is worth it. That

:41:05. > :41:08.is a big issue, it is worth half ?1 billion over 20 years, I don't think

:41:09. > :41:16.that is a big enough issue to bring down the institution. No, I don't. I

:41:17. > :41:19.commend him for all he has done as chairman of the Northern Ireland

:41:20. > :41:23.affairs committee. Will he agree with me that at times we see double

:41:24. > :41:27.standards operating in Northern Ireland? Any constituency of south

:41:28. > :41:38.Belfast, we had a most brutal murder in a pub of a young man by members

:41:39. > :41:41.of the IRA, and as a result this party and others questioned the

:41:42. > :41:47.ability of Sinn Fein and their fitness for Government and

:41:48. > :41:52.confidence in that fitness, and yet the SDLP did nothing. Absolutely

:41:53. > :41:58.nothing. Nothing to challenge Sinn Fein on that issue in terms of their

:41:59. > :42:04.fitness for Government. Are they not double standards operating here? Is

:42:05. > :42:12.one more that not one more than the scandal? The Right Honourable member

:42:13. > :42:16.raises an important point. It goes back to the point I was trying to

:42:17. > :42:21.make earlier. We either except that we had the work would be will be

:42:22. > :42:24.don't like don't want to work with, well, we don't. And if we don't

:42:25. > :42:30.accept that, there is no power-sharing. It is to believe

:42:31. > :42:35.that. It is true, I'm afraid it is a very good point. I'm afraid it is a

:42:36. > :42:39.very good point that parties on both sides have to work with people they

:42:40. > :42:46.don't want. There are accusations about certain members of the

:42:47. > :42:50.Assembly, and if they are in this place then we have to work closely

:42:51. > :42:52.with them, maybe we wouldn't look like that either, but it has had to

:42:53. > :42:59.happen for the sake of demolition, for the sake of years the juices. He

:43:00. > :43:03.is right to draw our attention to some of the terrible crimes which

:43:04. > :43:09.have been committed, and the shadow minister has an questioned on

:43:10. > :43:16.quoting crime from across-the-board, I know that he very much condemned

:43:17. > :43:19.crimes wherever they come from, just this morning I was done by the

:43:20. > :43:24.select committee is looking at concluding its report into Libyans

:43:25. > :43:27.answered IRA activity, and I was at the leading the proposed document

:43:28. > :43:31.this morning without going into the details, because the committee has

:43:32. > :43:38.not considered it, but in that draft report today are many examples of

:43:39. > :43:42.IRA violence, the way the IRA has poured lighter part, and just

:43:43. > :43:46.rereading some of those things this morning in the car as I came down

:43:47. > :43:50.really does remind us of what has gone on in Northern Ireland and how

:43:51. > :43:53.unacceptable it was full stop but I don't want to get into the issue of

:43:54. > :43:58.the prosecution of the soldiers at this point. It's going the central

:43:59. > :44:02.part of the debate. Of course one side in the Commons always reverted

:44:03. > :44:07.the war. The reason the reverted as a war is because it excused the

:44:08. > :44:13.indiscriminate killing of men and women and children, that is why they

:44:14. > :44:18.call it a wall. The other side I expected ago the book by the yellow

:44:19. > :44:23.card. That seems to me a very unfair way of looking at this whole

:44:24. > :44:29.situation and the legacy issue. I thank him for giving way and I can't

:44:30. > :44:31.him as a framed in terms of the support he gives the Northern

:44:32. > :44:36.Ireland too many years. Does he accept the night that the Bill

:44:37. > :44:41.before the House has not tipped the scales in favour of direct rule?

:44:42. > :44:45.Tonight people in Ulster will be watching their televisions and it is

:44:46. > :44:48.this House that is setting their rates. But last ten years it has

:44:49. > :44:53.been a Northern Ireland Assembly that was setting their rates. With

:44:54. > :44:56.that balance being kept, with each piece of legislation that comes

:44:57. > :45:03.forward, it has go to make it harder and harder and harder to get back to

:45:04. > :45:07.demolition. I think he puts his finger on the problem. It is a

:45:08. > :45:11.slippery slope. In some ways the Bill offers the opportunity as well

:45:12. > :45:15.for people to get together and can reform the Executive, it does allow

:45:16. > :45:19.for that. That is part of the Bill as well. But the right honourable

:45:20. > :45:24.gentleman is right, it is actually not this whole House that is going

:45:25. > :45:27.to decide the rates, it is going to be, with respect, the only way he

:45:28. > :45:30.could do committee Secretary of State. It goes back to what I said

:45:31. > :45:35.about direct rule earlier. All Honourable members won't get a say

:45:36. > :45:39.on the detail of things whereas if it was set in Northern Ireland there

:45:40. > :45:43.would be much more involvement by local people, so that would be

:45:44. > :45:48.indeed far better. I want to conclude by just making this point.

:45:49. > :45:51.I really do hope that the Secretary of State somewhere other is able to

:45:52. > :45:56.get the parties together in Northern Ireland we avoid committees upstairs

:45:57. > :46:01.running Northern Ireland, which is as I've said, most unsatisfactory.

:46:02. > :46:07.If he does even if he doesn't, I said this in the House before, I

:46:08. > :46:10.really do think we need to look at some of the Belfast agreement,

:46:11. > :46:15.legislation, deceive it needs updating, and that is not in any way

:46:16. > :46:18.to undermine the principles or power-sharing or anything else. It

:46:19. > :46:22.is an attempt to make it work. At the moment it isn't working. I as we

:46:23. > :46:26.would be sitting here now. We wouldn't have been in crisis 18

:46:27. > :46:31.months ago either. I don't want evident to be set up only to find

:46:32. > :46:34.another crisis is some six or 12 months later. I think the shadow

:46:35. > :46:38.city and state passed on it earlier with that petition of concern issue.

:46:39. > :46:41.I did raise that and was told that the parties are happy with it at

:46:42. > :46:46.that time. I think that needs looking at, but a lot of other

:46:47. > :46:50.things be looking at, semi-moderniser, updated, so the

:46:51. > :46:55.whole arrangement is able to address the situation that we find ourselves

:46:56. > :46:59.in now and not the one we were in 20 years ago, because without that a

:47:00. > :47:03.lot of progress has been made, be cannot deny that and shouldn't want

:47:04. > :47:08.to. But we have to get the political process right as well, because if we

:47:09. > :47:19.don't, what will happen is people will completely lose faith in it.

:47:20. > :47:23.That is nobody 's interest. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Can I

:47:24. > :47:28.associate myself with the comments of the Secretary of State about the

:47:29. > :47:32.terrible discovery made yesterday, and indeed commend all emergency

:47:33. > :47:36.services and the police for their tremendous efforts on their

:47:37. > :47:40.community 's behalf? And idiot also for his words about the shadow

:47:41. > :47:46.Secretary of State, stepping down not only from this position but for

:47:47. > :47:50.that form the shadow sexy assay for Scotland, his efforts on both units

:47:51. > :47:55.are very much appreciated. I will be very brief. The SNP will support the

:47:56. > :47:58.passage of this Bill, the decisions being made would be better made than

:47:59. > :48:02.the other side of the Irish Sea, but we are where we are, and it is

:48:03. > :48:07.important to get rateable value set so that the ministration of public

:48:08. > :48:09.services can continue. There are Brexit difficulties coming down the

:48:10. > :48:15.road, especially around the border issues, and it is right to do all be

:48:16. > :48:19.can to minimise the turbulence, but these decisions should more properly

:48:20. > :48:22.be made in storm at. There is a real need to get the little

:48:23. > :48:25.administration install mod back up and running and I am fairly sure

:48:26. > :48:29.that the electorate that has been asked to go back to the polls for a

:48:30. > :48:33.snap general election so soon after a snap storm a collection will be

:48:34. > :48:37.urging a resolution to the negotiations and a resumption of

:48:38. > :48:40.administration duties. Getting an administration running, so that

:48:41. > :48:45.decisions are taken there rather than here, would be the best option

:48:46. > :48:56.all round and that should be our main aim. As I said, the SNP will

:48:57. > :48:59.support this Bill. Can I begin by echoing previous comment

:49:00. > :49:04.co-operatively by the Secretary of State on the vile and callously bomb

:49:05. > :49:11.left outside the Holy Cross primary school and commend all those in the

:49:12. > :49:15.security forces who handled the incident and who are handling

:49:16. > :49:19.similar incident 24 hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the

:49:20. > :49:24.year, and we all owe them a great deal of thanks by the manner in

:49:25. > :49:29.which they continue to police Northern Ireland. Can I also pay

:49:30. > :49:34.tribute to their predecessors, who created the conditions under

:49:35. > :49:38.intensively difficult circumstances and extraordinary provocation, which

:49:39. > :49:43.enabled the peace process to take place? On that basis, I wholly

:49:44. > :49:46.commend the comments on my right honourable friend, the Secretary of

:49:47. > :49:52.State, who has shown remarkable for parents and patients, has been

:49:53. > :49:56.abused and criticised I think quite unfairly in recent weeks, and has

:49:57. > :50:01.let himself in for a further extension to two the 29th of June,

:50:02. > :50:06.which I think is a wholly sensible measure, and he quite rightly said

:50:07. > :50:13.there isn't a single member that I know in this House who would like to

:50:14. > :50:16.see direct rule return. As the shadow sexy said in his last

:50:17. > :50:18.validated performance, we were missing in the next parliament,

:50:19. > :50:23.quite rightly concurred as well, there was never to hear that was

:50:24. > :50:30.direct rule to come back. There is a slightly darker narrative that some

:50:31. > :50:38.sort of crazy Brits want to reimpose. Absolutely not.

:50:39. > :50:44.The institutions were set up and the agreement pastor did the most

:50:45. > :50:48.extraordinary period of negotiation and bipartisan agreement, one

:50:49. > :50:53.Conservative administrations made intensely difficult decisions that

:50:54. > :50:57.were supported by the Labour opposition and in time, when Labour

:50:58. > :51:03.came to power, we were in opposition and we supported the Labour

:51:04. > :51:08.Government and I was, had the honour to be the shadow secretary when the

:51:09. > :51:13.last major element went through, which was the devolution of policing

:51:14. > :51:18.and justice. And we backed Labour all the way. And we saw a similar

:51:19. > :51:23.process in Dublin, where both main parties consistently supported the

:51:24. > :51:24.process, and of course, none of this could have happened without the

:51:25. > :51:31.extraordinary support of both parties in the United states. And

:51:32. > :51:35.there is now exasperation that we have come to this point. There's

:51:36. > :51:38.been such progress made, and I would like to speak up for those hard

:51:39. > :51:46.working people on the ground in Northern Ireland will stop. The

:51:47. > :51:52.right honourable member and I appeared in spotlight if you weeks

:51:53. > :51:55.ago and a woman asked the question is, she asked, what about our

:51:56. > :52:00.budget? Who will pay our bills? That was exactly the right question to be

:52:01. > :52:07.posed. She, along with many others, he probably voted in the election on

:52:08. > :52:13.March to to elect politicians, local politicians to make those decisions.

:52:14. > :52:18.None of us want to make those decisions for local politicians. And

:52:19. > :52:20.I go and see those wonderful, world-class businesses who are

:52:21. > :52:25.trying to attract investment in Northern Ireland, who are travelling

:52:26. > :52:27.on behalf of Northern Ireland, representing brilliant, hard-working

:52:28. > :52:36.Northern Ireland people, and what is the international message? Will he

:52:37. > :52:41.accept that there is a longer term strategy that is now re-emerging

:52:42. > :52:47.from Sinn Fein and that is to make Northern Ireland unstable? So the

:52:48. > :52:50.people of Northern Ireland actually start questioning Northern Ireland's

:52:51. > :52:58.ability to govern itself and maybe it is a tactic of their is that they

:52:59. > :53:03.are re-emerging into. Think I would like to -- I don't think I would

:53:04. > :53:09.like to comet on the motives of any political party. I've been involved

:53:10. > :53:11.in Northern Ireland as the shadow secretary and real Secretary of

:53:12. > :53:15.State, and there is such goodwill across all parts of the community. I

:53:16. > :53:19.don't like talking about communities, like to talk about the

:53:20. > :53:23.whole community. There is, for this to work, real goodwill. And there is

:53:24. > :53:27.now exasperation. And I am particularly exasperated. My

:53:28. > :53:33.project, which involves rapid editors of four parties and the

:53:34. > :53:37.fifth one was also supportive, was to give the ability of Northern

:53:38. > :53:40.Ireland politicians to set corporation tax. Because we know

:53:41. > :53:44.that the Republic of Ireland's determination in the face of intense

:53:45. > :53:48.criticism from other major member state of the EU to hold onto its

:53:49. > :53:52.right to set corporation tax has been the key to their success. The

:53:53. > :54:01.then Finance minister in Dublin, who as I say was the corner stone of

:54:02. > :54:06.their success, as part of what was... The agreement, it was vital

:54:07. > :54:10.that the democratic institution in a devolved area was able to make that

:54:11. > :54:13.decision. For me, having got this through, having got unity amongst

:54:14. > :54:18.Northern Ireland parties, having got pretty well all Northern Ireland

:54:19. > :54:24.businesses supporting this, knowing the tremendous good it could do,

:54:25. > :54:27.knowing that just over the border there is an extraordinary amount of

:54:28. > :54:33.investment because of the corporation tax, and so much of that

:54:34. > :54:37.could have gone to Londonderry if that rate had been set, it is just

:54:38. > :54:42.exasperating that for me, this is one of the greatest achievements of

:54:43. > :54:47.the coalition Government and I hate rich tributes to my honourable

:54:48. > :54:55.friend from Chipping Barnet, it is there. The powers are there, if only

:54:56. > :55:01.local politicians would grab that opportunity and establish an

:55:02. > :55:06.Executive. So briefly, Madam Deputy Speaker, I support this bill, I

:55:07. > :55:09.endorse the comments of the Secretary of State and the shadow

:55:10. > :55:14.Secretary of State is that Lord would like to see is an Executive

:55:15. > :55:21.set up -- what we would like to see is an Executive set up. It is

:55:22. > :55:25.necessary to set a regional rate, sadly, we have to do that. They'll

:55:26. > :55:30.temporarily. And I think it is sensible, and I wish him well, for

:55:31. > :55:37.the Secretary of State to set a lengthy target of the 29th of June.

:55:38. > :55:44.But if the local politicians elected still don't come to their senses by

:55:45. > :55:47.then, I really would ask the Secretary of State to consider

:55:48. > :55:52.bringing back legislation here on the issue of the cost of Stormont.

:55:53. > :55:58.Very quickly, Madden and beady speaker, Stormont costs about ?1

:55:59. > :56:02.million per month in salaries and expenses for members of the

:56:03. > :56:11.assembly. And I know full well on the ground, numbers of the Northern

:56:12. > :56:16.Ireland public... Thank you to the right honourable gentleman for

:56:17. > :56:22.giving way. When he was shadow Secretary of State before he took

:56:23. > :56:26.office, he promised people, he went around Northern Ireland and told

:56:27. > :56:28.this house that when a Conservative administration came into power, he

:56:29. > :56:34.would steal with the cost of Sinn Fein MPs who take their place here,

:56:35. > :56:42.don't do any work. -- you would deal with the cost. He would do nothing

:56:43. > :56:47.about it, full of nothing, would he now agree that if they are going to

:56:48. > :56:55.take steps at Stormont, we need to take steps at Westminster as well to

:56:56. > :56:59.address the same problem of people who are elected to this house and

:57:00. > :57:09.don't do their job voluntarily eyes for us on the DUP ventures, this

:57:10. > :57:12.will be a critical issue. This is a critical issue, but I was Secretary

:57:13. > :57:15.of State in a coalition Government and what we looking at now is a

:57:16. > :57:22.Conservative Government. But honourable members, I note they

:57:23. > :57:26.don't like this, there are very few tools left in the Secretary of

:57:27. > :57:32.State's box. One of them is debate financial pressure on the political

:57:33. > :57:39.parties. That may hurt his party, it may hurt his competitors. But I have

:57:40. > :57:43.not heard from the other side way this should not be done. I have not

:57:44. > :57:49.heard a single member of the public in Northern Ireland criticise this

:57:50. > :57:52.will stop there was a poll in the Belfast Telegraph, and a very large

:57:53. > :57:58.majority supported the idea. We still have time, following this

:57:59. > :58:06.bill, if it goes through today, there will be four months and I

:58:07. > :58:10.don't think it is unfair, I think this view has huge support across

:58:11. > :58:13.Northern Ireland amongst the general public, I don't think it is unfair

:58:14. > :58:17.to say that if elected members cannot get their act together after

:58:18. > :58:30.four months, then the cease to receive public money and salary. I

:58:31. > :58:33.take it, now, that he will repeat the same call in relation to members

:58:34. > :58:38.here and their staff who are in receipt of public money and do not

:58:39. > :58:44.do their jobs? Will you say that clearly to the Government from the

:58:45. > :58:52.bench today? I am a simple backbencher, but he knows very well

:58:53. > :58:57.that I believe very strongly, and Lady Boothroyd said very clearly

:58:58. > :59:01.that there is no such thing as associate membership of this house.

:59:02. > :59:03.She was right. Elected members of this house should take their seats

:59:04. > :59:07.if they are to receive public money. But this does not get away from the

:59:08. > :59:14.point I'm making, which is germane to the 29th of June, and I repeat

:59:15. > :59:19.again. Should elected members not get their act together and not form

:59:20. > :59:24.an Executive, the Government should take steps to stop them getting

:59:25. > :59:28.salaries and expenses from the public purse, because that will put

:59:29. > :59:31.pressure on them. That is what the people of Northern Ireland will be

:59:32. > :59:39.the king. Imagine that, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will be supporting the

:59:40. > :59:44.bill tonight. I'm in agreement with the Jedi set here is a that we

:59:45. > :59:53.regret that it has come to this point. Tonight, first of, echoed the

:59:54. > :59:57.words of the Secretary of State and other members who have spoken in the

:59:58. > :00:03.house today, congratulating the security forces on stopping the

:00:04. > :00:10.murder of policemen as a result of a bomb lies outside a primary school

:00:11. > :00:18.in north Belfast in the constituency of my honourable friend. Can I just

:00:19. > :00:21.say, I'm disappointed... Maybe I shouldn't be disappointed with the

:00:22. > :00:32.spokesman for the Labour Party on this. Here, along with the BBC this

:00:33. > :00:36.morning, almost tried to associate this bowl with the fact that there

:00:37. > :00:45.was a political impasse at Stormont. -- try to associate this bomb... The

:00:46. > :00:57.police rejected it, the primary school rejected it, and both made

:00:58. > :01:01.clear, they fully understood that the people who plans these bombs

:01:02. > :01:05.don't care whether Stormont is working. It Stormont is working it

:01:06. > :01:09.as an excuse, if it is not working it as an excuse, because they are

:01:10. > :01:13.determined to bring terror to the streets of Northern Ireland simply

:01:14. > :01:25.to get the way which they can't get through the ballot box. Somehow or

:01:26. > :01:31.other, there is justification in punting bombs because of what is

:01:32. > :01:43.happening in politics, there is no justification. Can I just say, very

:01:44. > :01:47.clearly, he has not got it in anyway right about what I said. I condemned

:01:48. > :01:52.the act, the first thing I said. What I did say at the end was that

:01:53. > :01:56.the failure to get a resolution will give some people another excuse to

:01:57. > :02:02.go back to the bad old days and that is nothing at all to say in anyway

:02:03. > :02:06.that I condone what went on. Not a chance. And the point I'm making is

:02:07. > :02:14.that they don't need excuse. Because they have been... They are committed

:02:15. > :02:18.to changing the status of Northern Ireland to violence. And as I said,

:02:19. > :02:24.whether Stormont is working full tilt or not working, that'll be

:02:25. > :02:29.sufficient reason for them to continue what they are doing. That

:02:30. > :02:33.is the first point I wanted to make. My second point is this, whilst I

:02:34. > :02:39.welcome the comments that were made by the spokesman for Sinn Fein in

:02:40. > :02:43.north Belfast this morning about the incident, when he talked about how

:02:44. > :02:49.violent this action was, that a school should be used as a basis for

:02:50. > :03:03.an attack on the security forces, that is not forget that Sinn Fein

:03:04. > :03:08.used schools in the past as a means of attacking embers of the security

:03:09. > :03:12.forces. Indeed, they walked into classrooms and shop part-time

:03:13. > :03:16.members of the security forces. They blew up buses that had children on

:03:17. > :03:23.them, taking them to school. They killed the driver 's bosses who were

:03:24. > :03:26.taking children to school. Whilst we welcome the fact that they now

:03:27. > :03:30.appears to be a change of heart on the part of Sinn Fein, I think that

:03:31. > :03:35.it does as well to remember that the tactics which are used by the

:03:36. > :03:41.dissidents are no different from the tactics that were used by the Sinn

:03:42. > :03:47.Fein and the IRA for years in Northern Ireland. This is a

:03:48. > :03:50.necessary piece of legislation. I think the Secretary of State could

:03:51. > :03:55.have gone further when introducing this bill will stop I am making it

:03:56. > :04:02.quite clear to Sinn Fein, because they... I will come to later on,

:04:03. > :04:08.Sinn Fein have created the situation we're in our present and are

:04:09. > :04:11.responsible for this stalemate we face at present. But I think the

:04:12. > :04:18.Secretary of State should have made it clear that the alternative to

:04:19. > :04:24.progress is that there will be direct rule, and that possibility

:04:25. > :04:33.should have been stuck out in this house. -- the puzzles it should have

:04:34. > :04:43.been spelled-out in this House. There is a policy of not offending

:04:44. > :04:46.Sinn Fein, and we should pay less attention to the Northern Ireland

:04:47. > :04:49.Office and more to the people on the ground. I will say to the Secretary

:04:50. > :04:52.of State that had he acted more quickly at the beginning of this

:04:53. > :04:56.crisis, we could have avoided the situation that we have in Northern

:04:57. > :05:00.Ireland. Because time and again, he stood at the dispatch box and

:05:01. > :05:05.despite the fact, the pleas from this party, from the Labour Party,

:05:06. > :05:10.from the Scottish Nationalists and by some of his own backbenchers, he

:05:11. > :05:16.did not initiate the investigation that could have taken the sting out

:05:17. > :05:21.of the accusation that Sinn Fein were making about the Renewable Heat

:05:22. > :05:27.Incentive. And time and again I heard it. Because there was not

:05:28. > :05:32.agreement amongst the political parties, he could not initiate an

:05:33. > :05:39.investigation and cynically, as soon as Sinn Fein had got what they

:05:40. > :05:46.wanted, mainly, bringing down the Executive, the first person to

:05:47. > :05:52.announce the enquiry was no less than Mairtin O'Muilleoir, the Sinn

:05:53. > :06:01.Fein minister for the Department of Finance. At the Secretary of State

:06:02. > :06:04.initiate an enquiry... I know that the spokesman for the Labour Party

:06:05. > :06:10.talked about the need to get away from this particular part of the

:06:11. > :06:17.impasse. Arlene Foster never refused to take part in a public enquiry.

:06:18. > :06:21.She never refused to be prepared to go and give an account and be

:06:22. > :06:28.questioned at a public enquiry. The problem was, there wasn't one! And

:06:29. > :06:33.the Secretary of State, had he been prepared to grasp that that'll could

:06:34. > :06:36.have avoided, at least, the excuse that Sinn Fein use at that stage

:06:37. > :06:39.that they didn't have clarity on this whole issue and until that was

:06:40. > :06:47.done they couldn't possibly work with other foster. But I think the

:06:48. > :06:59.lesson should be led from that, that sometimes, despite the threats from

:07:00. > :07:01.Sinn Fein, it is important not to listen to the wets within the

:07:02. > :07:10.Northern Ireland Office and to act on his particle instincts.

:07:11. > :07:22.I agree with the honourable member on the point that the Government

:07:23. > :07:25.should have acted a lot more, but he is building a complete fiction in

:07:26. > :07:27.trying to say that the DUP wanted a public enquiry. They opposed a

:07:28. > :07:37.public enquiry, and were on the same page as Sinn Fein in doing so. It

:07:38. > :07:42.was on that a few that the secretary of the nature that he and his

:07:43. > :07:47.colleagues stayed out of the issue. I do not want to bore the House with

:07:48. > :07:51.the details of what happened in December last year, but the First

:07:52. > :07:57.Minister at that stage made it quite clear that she believed she had

:07:58. > :08:02.nothing to hide, and was prepared to face an enquiry. She was prepared to

:08:03. > :08:08.have that enquiry on whatever status was required to get to the truth,

:08:09. > :08:14.and that is still her position. I think the second point that I want

:08:15. > :08:16.to make is that this Bill is necessary because of the way in

:08:17. > :08:21.which the finances of Northern Ireland have been left, and again, I

:08:22. > :08:27.think there are lessons to be learned from this. I suspect that

:08:28. > :08:32.the Secretary of State is going to have to come back at the end of June

:08:33. > :08:37.with another Bill to implement the budget in Northern Ireland. It will

:08:38. > :08:43.not be a satisfactory budget because it will probably be based on last

:08:44. > :08:47.year's distribution of finances, to ensure that 100% of the budget is

:08:48. > :08:53.spent, but that's no new priorities can be set, and of course, as the

:08:54. > :08:58.former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has stated, one of

:08:59. > :09:05.the central planks of the economic policy of the Executive will not be

:09:06. > :09:09.able to be contained in that budget, because it will not be possible for

:09:10. > :09:15.this House role we remain in the EU to legislate for the reduction in

:09:16. > :09:21.corporation tax and to allocate the funds within the budget for that. I

:09:22. > :09:26.think that that will be a missed opportunity, and one which many

:09:27. > :09:29.firms in Northern Ireland and many prospective investors in Northern

:09:30. > :09:35.Ireland will view as a missed opportunity. But let's look at why

:09:36. > :09:41.we have no budget, because I think that this gives an indication of

:09:42. > :09:45.where Sinn Fein are really at, and what prospects there are for an

:09:46. > :09:50.agreement. We do not have a budget in Northern Ireland, not because the

:09:51. > :09:58.Executive could not agree a budget, not because it was rejected by the

:09:59. > :10:01.coalition partners, we do not have a budget because there was never, ever

:10:02. > :10:07.a budget brought forward to the Executive. Now, why was that the

:10:08. > :10:14.case? I think the reason why that was the case is because Sinn Fein

:10:15. > :10:20.could not face the reality of having to bring forward a budget which had

:10:21. > :10:26.hard decisions to be made in it. And, of course, that was true when

:10:27. > :10:30.it came to the restructuring of the health service. There was a report

:10:31. > :10:34.on restructuring the health service which could have saved money, and

:10:35. > :10:38.which could have helped with some of the problems that were faced with in

:10:39. > :10:44.the health service at present. They did not act on it. Why? Because it

:10:45. > :10:47.involves hard decisions. When it came to welfare reform over 18

:10:48. > :10:53.months ago, they did not act on that either. They were quite happy for it

:10:54. > :10:57.to be done by the Government here, and the question that has to be

:10:58. > :11:02.asked by those of us who are involved politically in Northern

:11:03. > :11:10.Ireland is, our Sinn Fein serious about getting out of this impasse,

:11:11. > :11:15.or are they quite content? They will never see it, but are they quite

:11:16. > :11:23.content for the process to rule on and on, have direct rule, and have

:11:24. > :11:25.those difficult budgetary decisions and the decisions about allocating

:11:26. > :11:30.resources and about Brexit, and about all of the other things which

:11:31. > :11:38.concern them at present is? Have all of those issues decided here. They

:11:39. > :11:41.can blame the big bad Brits, but they keep their hands clean, and

:11:42. > :11:48.they can still give up the mess in the Irish Republic, perpetuated by

:11:49. > :11:54.the bearded guru of Gerry Adams, that somehow or other they have an

:11:55. > :11:57.economic policy that can avoid any austerity measures. The one thing

:11:58. > :12:04.they do not want is to have to introduce austerity measures or cuts

:12:05. > :12:06.in Northern Ireland, while promising the people in the Irish Republic

:12:07. > :12:11.that they have some kind of economic magic wand that they could with, if

:12:12. > :12:17.only they were in coalition down there. I think that is a question

:12:18. > :12:22.that the Secretary of State has to ask, and that we as a party have to

:12:23. > :12:27.ask. What concessions do they really want, it a question of direct rule

:12:28. > :12:32.might suit their purposes until the election that takes place in the

:12:33. > :12:38.Republic? Rider did not bring forward the budget? Rider did not

:12:39. > :12:41.make hard decisions and they could make hard decisions in the Northern

:12:42. > :12:47.Ireland Assembly? -- why did they not? That has always been that their

:12:48. > :12:53.possession, they consistently run away from those hard decisions, and

:12:54. > :12:58.have done in the past. -- their position. If that is the case, we

:12:59. > :13:05.will have an impasse after the election on the 8th of June. The

:13:06. > :13:09.other point that I want to make, Madam Deputy Speaker, at this

:13:10. > :13:13.particular point, is that we have seen... ?SPACE This has been the

:13:14. > :13:21.difficulty in the talks. We have seen the reason why Sinn Fein cannot

:13:22. > :13:29.not into Government, or will not go into Government, change on almost a

:13:30. > :13:42.weekly basis. First of all it was RHI. Brits is hardly mentioned now.

:13:43. > :13:50.Was RHI such a big scandal that it should have resulted in a

:13:51. > :13:55.constitutional crisis? At the fear of causing some anger on the benches

:13:56. > :14:07.opposite, look at RHI in the United Kingdom. A coal mine down the road,

:14:08. > :14:12.closed in order to bring would pellets from halfway around the

:14:13. > :14:19.world. And no cap on the subsidy, which started off at ?400 million,

:14:20. > :14:29.it is now ?600 million. By 2020, it will be 1000 million. Did the

:14:30. > :14:33.Government fall? No! But yet, a ?25 million overspend, which has now

:14:34. > :14:42.been corrected in Northern Ireland, cost a constitutional crisis. I

:14:43. > :14:48.thank the honourable member for giving way. I think he makes the

:14:49. > :14:51.point very well, but there is no issue that this House could face

:14:52. > :14:56.that would persuade us to disband the whole parliament, is there a?

:14:57. > :15:00.That is the point. And of course, this is a point that was made time

:15:01. > :15:10.and time again, Sinn Fein were ably assisted in this by the BBC, who far

:15:11. > :15:15.I think a consecutive 70 days, kept this issue in the news bulletins.

:15:16. > :15:21.And of course, know it has dropped, I never even hear it mention. -- now

:15:22. > :15:27.it has been dropped. Other issues have come forward, and Irish

:15:28. > :15:33.Language Act. The denial of rights of the Irish language speakers, and

:15:34. > :15:37.of course, and I wish them well on leaving this house, we saw the face

:15:38. > :15:43.of the Labour Party this afternoon in this house, and we heard the

:15:44. > :15:47.voice of Sinn Fein, when the spokesman for the Labour Party gave

:15:48. > :15:53.his speech at the dispatch box. We heard the same kind of excuses, that

:15:54. > :15:57.people were being denied their rights to speak the Irish language.

:15:58. > :16:03.They are not being denied the rights to speak the Irish language. We fund

:16:04. > :16:10.the Irish language through the Assembly to the tune of ?171

:16:11. > :16:14.million. We allowed schools to be open, Irish language skills to be

:16:15. > :16:20.open, and from those schools, when there are as few as 14 pupils in

:16:21. > :16:27.them, while at the same time closing schools in the state sector with 50,

:16:28. > :16:30.100 pupils in them. And yet, we are told that we somehow or other do not

:16:31. > :16:38.give proper treatment to those who wish to speak the Irish language.

:16:39. > :16:43.Councils are free, if they wish, after following the requirements of

:16:44. > :16:50.the legislation, to put Irish names on street signs across their council

:16:51. > :16:54.areas. And yet, we have got this myth perpetuated that somehow, the

:16:55. > :17:01.refusal to accept an Irish Language Act is the big impasse in the talks.

:17:02. > :17:08.We have also been told, of course, that it is, not only that, but we

:17:09. > :17:15.had at parroted again today, and it is surprising that I even saw the

:17:16. > :17:22.Under-Secretary of State nodding his head when he talks about people

:17:23. > :17:27.being denied their rights. Their rights, when it came to, whether it

:17:28. > :17:33.was gay marriage or certain abortion rights. I would simply say to the

:17:34. > :17:38.Minister, the whole point of devolution is that people in regions

:17:39. > :17:45.of the Kingdom have the opportunity to make the laws reflect the views

:17:46. > :17:50.in their society, and I would say the same to the Labour spokesman on

:17:51. > :17:56.this issue. If you want to have uniformity, then do not devolve the

:17:57. > :18:00.issue. If you are allowing their to be differences in different parts of

:18:01. > :18:04.the United Kingdom, then respect devolution, and respect the views of

:18:05. > :18:11.the parties that are elected to those Assemblies, who by the way, do

:18:12. > :18:14.not hide it. We have never had in our manifesto is our views on these

:18:15. > :18:19.issues. People vote for us on those issues, and we have a duty to then

:18:20. > :18:26.reflect that in the decisions which are made. It is not about rights, of

:18:27. > :18:31.course, because we have seen, despite all the rhetoric from Sinn

:18:32. > :18:37.Fein about equality, respect, and rates, etc, we have seen that when

:18:38. > :18:40.it comes to people who serve in the security forces, no willingness to

:18:41. > :18:47.show respect they are. When it comes to the views of people who read

:18:48. > :18:53.represents on many of these issues, no respect they are, and they are

:18:54. > :19:00.claiming that somehow or another we have completely abandoned the

:19:01. > :19:07.promises we made to those people. I would say to the Minister and to the

:19:08. > :19:15.Shadow Minister, do not be taken in that that is a cause of the impasse

:19:16. > :19:21.in these particular talks. We have been told that the issue is Brexit,

:19:22. > :19:29.and I find that very strange, coming from Sinn Fein, because the one

:19:30. > :19:32.party which will not shake the Brexit talks or the Brexit

:19:33. > :19:37.negotiations or the outcome of Brexit decisions in this House, is

:19:38. > :19:46.Sinn Fein, because they do not attend. And yet they want to have a

:19:47. > :19:51.broad coalition against Brexit, and we find no doubt the SDLP, they do

:19:52. > :19:56.involve themselves in a sectarian involve themselves in a sectarian

:19:57. > :20:00.pact with Sinn Fein, so they are trying to progress as a liberal

:20:01. > :20:10.Progressive pact against Brexit, including the Alliance party, the

:20:11. > :20:18.Cleans, themselves against Sinn Fein. Let's make no doubt about it.

:20:19. > :20:24.-- the greens. It is not about changing Brexit by their own

:20:25. > :20:28.definition, it is not about changing Brexit, and yet we have been told

:20:29. > :20:32.that that is another reason why we cannot progress, because the

:20:33. > :20:40.Government is being disrespectful of the vote in Northern Ireland against

:20:41. > :20:44.leaving the EU. I have got to say, the Government has not been

:20:45. > :20:48.disrespectful. In fact, if anything, the Government has worked well with

:20:49. > :20:52.the Administration, and has shown it is prepared to do so, trying to

:20:53. > :20:55.address the unique issues that address the unique issues that

:20:56. > :21:00.Northern Ireland faces, just as they work with the City of London, the

:21:01. > :21:03.motorcar industry and other industries, addressing issues that

:21:04. > :21:08.affect them. Of course there will be different parts of the country which

:21:09. > :21:15.will have different issues, but the whole point is that there should be

:21:16. > :21:22.a method of feeding that in. They will not be able to do that if we do

:21:23. > :21:25.not have devolution. As far as the regional rate is concerned, the

:21:26. > :21:31.Minister is right, we do need to have a decision made on that. It is

:21:32. > :21:34.an important part of Government finance in Northern Ireland, there

:21:35. > :21:42.needs to be certainty. Councils have not sent out bills because we do not

:21:43. > :21:45.have the regional rate established, and therefore it is important that a

:21:46. > :21:50.quick decision is made on that. I would say to the Secretary of State,

:21:51. > :21:56.intervention, he cannot allow the intervention, he cannot allow the

:21:57. > :22:00.budgetary issues to go on and to be delayed, because there is

:22:01. > :22:06.uncertainty. There is uncertainty and apartments, they can only have

:22:07. > :22:11.present, and that of course has a present, and that of course has a

:22:12. > :22:23.knock-on effect, because nobody knows. And even the 90 day notices

:22:24. > :22:26.to some of the suppliers, and community groups, because nobody

:22:27. > :22:33.knows what the full budget is going to be, the precautionary

:22:34. > :22:43.Those that can I just come in closing, make one point that as far

:22:44. > :22:46.as our party concerned, there is no reason that even before this general

:22:47. > :22:51.election campaign starts, that devolution should not be up and

:22:52. > :22:58.running. People were elected to the assembly, when it came to, when it

:22:59. > :23:05.assembly elections were held. They have a mandate to go to the

:23:06. > :23:11.assembly. The starting point for these issues is the debates within

:23:12. > :23:15.the Assembly. And it is only because one party in particular has laid

:23:16. > :23:21.down a list of demands, first of all, they said they wanted the RHI

:23:22. > :23:25.sorted out and until it was, they couldn't work with Arlene Foster.

:23:26. > :23:29.And then they said it was legacy issues which hasn't been dealt with

:23:30. > :23:35.by the Government. And I hope some of their interpretation of those

:23:36. > :23:40.legacy issues, especially around the way in which terrorists will be

:23:41. > :23:45.treated in relation to incidences involve the security forces, which

:23:46. > :23:53.wannabe excepted by this Government. -- which will never be accepted. We

:23:54. > :24:03.agree with me that part of the problem isn't just Sinn Fein will

:24:04. > :24:10.making a series of unreasonable demands, but even before they

:24:11. > :24:15.re-establish the institution, they want the institutions of running on

:24:16. > :24:21.their unreasonable terms. That is exactly the point I was making.

:24:22. > :24:30.These issues cannot be -- can actually be resolved within the

:24:31. > :24:33.assembly. And if you want to know the position we resolve on Brexit,

:24:34. > :24:38.where better to do that than ministers within the Assembly coming

:24:39. > :24:43.together? If you want to sort issues around culture etc, would you do it,

:24:44. > :24:48.with the debates within the Assembly. If you want to deal with

:24:49. > :24:52.the legacy issues, then there is a role for the assembly in that. But

:24:53. > :24:58.these things can be dealt with in the assembly. That is the place to

:24:59. > :25:01.deal with them. Not saying that, unless we get these things sorted

:25:02. > :25:11.out and sorted out on the terms of one party, then we will not have

:25:12. > :25:14.devolution. And this is where I take issue with the former Secretary of

:25:15. > :25:21.State when he says, parish Assembly Members. If you're going to punish

:25:22. > :25:29.people for not doing their job, punish Sinn Fein, who have not this

:25:30. > :25:37.place try for the last ten years. -- they have milked this place try. And

:25:38. > :25:40.secondly, recognise that it is not the intransigence is of Assembly

:25:41. > :25:46.Members generally that have led to this. And thirdly, he should know

:25:47. > :25:50.this, as a public representative, there are many ways in which public

:25:51. > :25:54.representatives do their jobs. Of course there is a role in the body

:25:55. > :25:58.to which they have been elected. But there is also the role they have in

:25:59. > :26:09.relation to their constituents. And I know that the to Assembly Members

:26:10. > :26:14.in male party he were elected -- the members in my own party who were

:26:15. > :26:21.elected. As well as being involved in preparing material for the talks,

:26:22. > :26:24.this idea that somehow or other, they are lying at home watching

:26:25. > :26:30.daytime TV and getting paid for it, he should know better! And so should

:26:31. > :26:37.many of the people who are commenting on it. And if we want to

:26:38. > :26:45.understand the situation, we ought to be asking, is it simply that

:26:46. > :26:49.people are intransigence is because they think we are on a jolly here,

:26:50. > :27:00.and it's great, let's not have the Aseembly of running? I don't know

:27:01. > :27:04.any of my colleagues who do not want to be back in Stormont tomorrow,

:27:05. > :27:07.doing their job, and I believe it is the case that this can be hurried

:27:08. > :27:13.along and pushed along by spelling it out to Sinn Fein that is the

:27:14. > :27:19.consequence of not getting the Assembly upon running is that

:27:20. > :27:23.decisions will be made here. I don't want that to happen, I don't want to

:27:24. > :27:26.direct rule, I don't believe it will be as good for Northern Ireland, I

:27:27. > :27:30.don't believe it is good for this House to have to do that. But on

:27:31. > :27:39.telly stars dressing and rather than using this generic term, the

:27:40. > :27:43.parties, and he knows how difficult they have been, they took umbrage at

:27:44. > :27:48.him and didn't even want him to care talks because of comments he had

:27:49. > :27:53.made about the security forces. That is the kind of arrogance we have had

:27:54. > :27:58.from them. I believe until that arrogant bubble is broken and

:27:59. > :28:04.bursts, we're not going to be able to make any progress in Northern

:28:05. > :28:08.Ireland. Order, we have plenty of time for this debate, but if the

:28:09. > :28:17.honourable gentleman take much more than about 15 minutes each, then we

:28:18. > :28:21.will run out of time and I have a theory, nearly put together from

:28:22. > :28:26.spending many days, hours, weeks, in this chair observing the house, but

:28:27. > :28:32.most things that have to be set can usually be said in 15 minutes. I

:28:33. > :28:37.make no criticism of anyone who has taken longer. I nearly make a plea

:28:38. > :28:47.that that would be a reasonable amount of time to take. Thank you,

:28:48. > :28:49.Madam Deputy Speaker. I join with my colleagues in welcoming the

:28:50. > :28:55.opportunity to take part in this debate will stop did I commend the

:28:56. > :29:02.Secretary of State and his ministerial colleagues for their

:29:03. > :29:05.conduct in the negotiations. They have, at times, been disrespected by

:29:06. > :29:11.at least one of the parties, Sinn Fein, who have said some white nasty

:29:12. > :29:17.things about them. But I know it is not easy to chair the negotiations,

:29:18. > :29:20.particularly when you have some acting unreasonably, so I want to

:29:21. > :29:25.place on record our gratitude for the role that they are playing in

:29:26. > :29:31.trying to bring things together. We do want things to come together. Let

:29:32. > :29:33.me be clear, from this party's prospective, and when you consider

:29:34. > :29:40.where we have come from in Northern Ireland, I think it is quite a

:29:41. > :29:44.workable thing to have the leading Unionist party in Northern Ireland

:29:45. > :29:49.say that they have no preconditions to go into Government with Sinn

:29:50. > :29:54.Fein. -- it is quite a remarkable thing. Turn back the clock if you

:29:55. > :29:59.years and imagine that was the position. That the leading Unionist

:30:00. > :30:02.party would be saying we are prepared to go into Government today

:30:03. > :30:07.with Sinn Fein with no preconditions. And yet, it is Sinn

:30:08. > :30:15.Fein who refuse to form a Government. Ourselves alone, I'm

:30:16. > :30:23.told, is the literal Irish translation for Sinn Fein. The

:30:24. > :30:30.honourable member for Foyle is probably better qualified on that

:30:31. > :30:33.than me. But in terms of that, Sinn Fein seem to be living up to their

:30:34. > :30:40.name, because as far as I conceive, or the other parties in the Assembly

:30:41. > :30:43.are prepared to see a Government formed exception thing. And so, the

:30:44. > :30:47.Government must be aware of that and needs to be aware of that going for

:30:48. > :30:54.words. -- all of the parties except Sinn Fein. In terms of the peace

:30:55. > :30:58.process going forward, I am now with a very serious doubt in my mind

:30:59. > :31:07.about whether Sinn Fein really want to in Government at all. I'm left

:31:08. > :31:10.with a very serious doubt in my mind about the work ability of the

:31:11. > :31:17.editorial coalition model as a basis for Government, giving as it does,

:31:18. > :31:21.Madam Deputy Speaker, Sinn Fein a veto over the formation of a

:31:22. > :31:25.Government. That is where we are coming true. The Government of

:31:26. > :31:29.Northern Ireland is being vetoed, the formation of that Government is

:31:30. > :31:34.being vetoed by one party, who are refusing to go into Government and

:31:35. > :31:36.because the nature of that architecture and the framework for

:31:37. > :31:41.Government in Northern Ireland, they have that veto. And they can

:31:42. > :31:52.exercise that veto and are doing so at present. Thank you, Madam Deputy

:31:53. > :31:57.Speaker, I am grateful to the honourable gentleman for allowing me

:31:58. > :31:59.to intervene. The written statement published by the Secretary of State

:32:00. > :32:03.for Northern Ireland last week indicated there had been some

:32:04. > :32:06.progress amongst the parties, they hadn't been a complete waste of

:32:07. > :32:10.time, so I think it would be hell for for the people of Northern

:32:11. > :32:13.Ireland and indeed this House to understand where the progress as the

:32:14. > :32:18.need and to narrow down the stumbling blocks that are being cast

:32:19. > :32:21.up by Sinn Fein, I think that would be hell for to us. I think the

:32:22. > :32:29.honourable lady for her intervention. I think in truth,

:32:30. > :32:37.Madam Deputy Speaker, some progress has been made in homing in on the

:32:38. > :32:41.issues. It would be wrong to say we have reached agreement on any of the

:32:42. > :32:48.issues. What are those issues? They include the legacy of her troubled

:32:49. > :32:52.past. The quest for justice and truth by the innocent victims. And

:32:53. > :32:57.we have, I think, come a long way in terms of developing proposals, which

:32:58. > :33:03.I understand the Secretary of State is now willing to publish. For

:33:04. > :33:10.consultation in the coming weeks. Something we on the side of the

:33:11. > :33:13.House very much welcome. We do not believe that a failure to form a

:33:14. > :33:18.Government in Northern Ireland should prevent a Government in this

:33:19. > :33:23.place from proceeding with legislation to establish those new

:33:24. > :33:26.legacy bodies, and I would say to the Secretary of State, well Sinn

:33:27. > :33:35.Fein may have a veto over the formation of Government, it would be

:33:36. > :33:37.the ultimate irony if we allowed the party that represents the

:33:38. > :33:45.organisation that word of more people in the troubles than anyone

:33:46. > :33:52.else -- murdered more people in the Troubles than anyone else to veto

:33:53. > :33:57.the institution that help stop those murders, it is absurd that we would

:33:58. > :34:01.consider handing Sinn Fein a veto over the investigation of murders

:34:02. > :34:06.that were committed by the provisional IRA. We need those

:34:07. > :34:11.investigationss up and running to investigate those murders, to level

:34:12. > :34:15.the playing field, and I have said to the minister many times, at the

:34:16. > :34:22.moment, there isn't a level playing field. At the moment, we have legacy

:34:23. > :34:28.requests. At the moment, we have the examination of the events that are

:34:29. > :34:30.known as Bloody Sunday. At the moment, we have a completely

:34:31. > :34:35.disproportionate focus on what the Army and the police did in Northern

:34:36. > :34:39.Ireland, and I echo comments made earlier which are that the killings

:34:40. > :34:43.committed by the army and police were for the most part lawful, and

:34:44. > :34:50.were about protecting life and the community. But of course, were

:34:51. > :34:55.someone has done something wrong, then in the past, Google has

:34:56. > :35:01.investigated this. But it entirely wrong that we have this

:35:02. > :35:07.investigation can't of the PS and I putting so much resources to

:35:08. > :35:13.investigate the police and army and so little to investigate the 90% of

:35:14. > :35:16.murders that were committed by paramilitary terrorist organisations

:35:17. > :35:20.in Northern Ireland, that is not a sustainable position and after this

:35:21. > :35:24.election, trusting excrement will take for this legislation and

:35:25. > :35:28.establish those legacy bodies. -- I trust the next Government will take

:35:29. > :35:34.forward this legislation. Another issue we are awaiting to get

:35:35. > :35:40.agreement on, and I referred to this earlier, is the Armed Forces

:35:41. > :35:47.covenant. Sinn Fein topic on respect and equality. And this is an issue

:35:48. > :35:51.of respect and equality. It is about ensuring the men and women who have

:35:52. > :35:55.served in our country in the Armed Forces are not disadvantaged by

:35:56. > :35:59.virtue of their service, that is the basis, the very basis of the Armed

:36:00. > :36:04.Forces covenant. It is also about the wider community across this

:36:05. > :36:08.nation showing respect for the men and women who served, so that

:36:09. > :36:12.equality and respect is what we are properly about in relation to the

:36:13. > :36:16.Armed Forces, and we need Sinn Fein Armed Forces, and we need Sinn Fein

:36:17. > :36:19.to step up to the mark and for all the political parties in Northern

:36:20. > :36:23.Ireland to agree to the full implementation of the Armed Forces

:36:24. > :36:29.covenant in Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom.

:36:30. > :36:36.In the accept that the number of people affected by that Rafa more

:36:37. > :36:40.significant that and some of the other minority groups for whom Sinn

:36:41. > :36:44.Fein are demanding equality and respect? I did intervene on the

:36:45. > :36:49.Shadow Secretary of State to make that very point, but while he was

:36:50. > :36:54.busy listing all of the groups that he says he has met, who are

:36:55. > :37:02.demanding rights and equality, the one group that he missed out in his

:37:03. > :37:06.remarks were 150,000, I will repeat that figure, 150,000 men and women

:37:07. > :37:12.in Northern Ireland who have served in our Armed Forces. Far greater

:37:13. > :37:19.that by far than the number of people who speak the Irish language

:37:20. > :37:21.far greater by far than any other minority group that the Shadow

:37:22. > :37:28.Secretary of State bothered to mention, and are those 150,000

:37:29. > :37:32.people, when you add to the fact that the Armed Forces Covenant also

:37:33. > :37:35.covers their families, the figure is half a million people. -- 500,000

:37:36. > :37:38.people. That is not my figure, it people. That is not my figure, it

:37:39. > :37:43.comes from the Northern Ireland comes from the Northern Ireland

:37:44. > :37:47.Office's statistics. Over 500,000 people in a population of 1.8

:37:48. > :37:50.million people would benefit, and it would be nice to hear the Shadow

:37:51. > :37:55.Secretary of State and his colleagues, for once saying, yes,

:37:56. > :37:59.this is something we would want to see included, and I sincerely hope

:38:00. > :38:03.that the outcome of the negotiations will be that all parties sign up to

:38:04. > :38:07.the mentation of the Armed Forces the mentation of the Armed Forces

:38:08. > :38:08.Covenant in Northern Ireland, if they are genuine about respect and

:38:09. > :38:24.equality. Does he forgive with me -- equality. Does he forgive with me --

:38:25. > :38:30.agree with me that the Sinn Fein Secretary of State cut the budget by

:38:31. > :38:36.?700,000 for the last three financial years, yet they claim that

:38:37. > :38:42.we do not show respect? They could not even find enough alias to spend

:38:43. > :38:50.the money on. The honourable member's contribution stands on its

:38:51. > :38:55.own feet. I wonder if the honourable member would give his feelings on

:38:56. > :38:58.the update with the military discussions, because the party that

:38:59. > :39:08.we have all have been talking about to this debate, all they wanted was

:39:09. > :39:12.equality to try to agree with our soldiers is an absolute disgrace. I

:39:13. > :39:17.thank the honourable member for present invention, and on this

:39:18. > :39:23.issue, our two parties agree, and we spoke with one voice in the working

:39:24. > :39:25.groups dealing with the Armed Forces, because we believe

:39:26. > :39:31.passionately that this issue must be addressed in the context of

:39:32. > :39:37.Stormont's responsibilities to a large group within our community,

:39:38. > :39:40.and I mean our community and its talented, because of course, the

:39:41. > :39:47.Armed Forces draw from all sections of the community in Northern

:39:48. > :39:53.Ireland, and that is something we are grateful for. I just want to

:39:54. > :39:59.echo the comments that were made by the honourable member for East

:40:00. > :40:04.Antrim about Brexit. I find it quite remarkable that we hear some of the

:40:05. > :40:07.parties talking about the need for a special status for Northern Ireland

:40:08. > :40:13.when it comes to Brexit, and yet Sinn Fein are refusing to form a

:40:14. > :40:18.Government in Northern Ireland, which is the one vehicle that can

:40:19. > :40:23.help to develop a consensus around how we deal with Brexit will stop I

:40:24. > :40:30.want to say to the Secretary of State that, if we do arrive at a

:40:31. > :40:33.situation where there is direct rule, and we do not have a

:40:34. > :40:40.Government functioning in Northern Ireland, what will be unacceptable

:40:41. > :40:46.is if the Government then seeks to pander to those voices that are

:40:47. > :40:49.demanding a special status in the absence of a consensus, a political

:40:50. > :40:53.consensus, around that issue in Northern Ireland. It is not good

:40:54. > :40:58.enough to hand Sinn Fein a veto over forming a Government, and then to

:40:59. > :41:07.say that parties would be excluded in the decision-making process

:41:08. > :41:10.around what happens with Brexit. And therefore the SDLP, Alliance party

:41:11. > :41:16.and Sinn Fein can gang up on the DUP all they want on this issue, but

:41:17. > :41:19.returned to direct rule, and there is no Government in Northern

:41:20. > :41:25.Ireland, we are not going to stand and allow some special status

:41:26. > :41:29.against the people of Northern Ireland and the wishes of the

:41:30. > :41:32.unionist community, it has to be a cross community consensus on this.

:41:33. > :41:38.Nothing else is going to work in the absence of devolution, so Sinn Fein

:41:39. > :41:41.and the SDLP and the Green Party and the lines Party won special status

:41:42. > :41:47.for Northern Ireland, there is only one way that that will be delivered,

:41:48. > :41:54.and that is by having a devolved Government. In the absence of that,

:41:55. > :41:57.Sinn Fein can forget it. They can protest and dress up as funny little

:41:58. > :42:04.customs men, pretending we will have a hard border, but that will not

:42:05. > :42:09.wash with Brussels. The only thing that will deliver for Northern

:42:10. > :42:11.Ireland as either we have our own Government, or we will be the voice

:42:12. > :42:18.for Northern Ireland here in this chamber, and I fully expect a strong

:42:19. > :42:23.DUP team to be returned after the general election to speak for

:42:24. > :42:29.Northern Ireland in this house. I would like to say again to the

:42:30. > :42:32.Secretary of State, part of this is about the budget, and I would ask

:42:33. > :42:35.the Secretary of State or the the Secretary of State or the

:42:36. > :42:48.minister, in binding up, on the budget, will be budget continued to

:42:49. > :42:51.in continue to include... ?SPACE There are a lot of vulnerable people

:42:52. > :42:59.in Northern Ireland who would like to know, and we need to expose Sinn

:43:00. > :43:03.Fein on this, because the fact that this House is set in the budget, or

:43:04. > :43:09.at least providing funding for public services in Northern Ireland,

:43:10. > :43:11.it is and portents to know about the mitigation measures on welfare

:43:12. > :43:19.reform will be included in that, and for how long. The final thing is,

:43:20. > :43:24.Madam Deputy Speaker, I think that what this current crisis proves is

:43:25. > :43:29.that mandatory coalition, handing a veto to one side of the community in

:43:30. > :43:37.Northern Ireland, is a fundamentally flawed way of democratising

:43:38. > :43:42.Government. And we wanted to see, it has long been an objective of our

:43:43. > :43:44.party, that we moved towards a system of voluntary coalition in

:43:45. > :43:50.Northern Ireland, that we move towards a situation where after an

:43:51. > :44:00.election, the parties come together, negotiate, and agree a programme for

:44:01. > :44:03.Government. Those parties want to go into Government, and those parties

:44:04. > :44:09.who do not go into opposition. What we cannot sustain a situation where

:44:10. > :44:13.those parties who do not want to go into Government have a beetle over

:44:14. > :44:16.everybody else in forming a Government. That is not democracy,

:44:17. > :44:24.that is the very antithesis of democracy. I am grateful for the

:44:25. > :44:29.right honourable gentleman taking another intervention. The right

:44:30. > :44:36.honourable gentleman will recall that the Belfast agreement actually

:44:37. > :44:40.suggested that this was approved by referendum in Northern Ireland that

:44:41. > :44:43.the Deputy First Minister 's would be jointly elected. That was

:44:44. > :44:50.unfortunately changed after the St Andrews Agreement. To put the two

:44:51. > :44:58.names on the same ticket, and people have to vote for those two names, is

:44:59. > :45:03.that an option that the DUP would consider? We will certainly look at

:45:04. > :45:07.options, but I have to say to the honourable lady, that that does not

:45:08. > :45:12.solve the problem. I think if we are going to look at solving the

:45:13. > :45:18.problem, we have got to be more fundamental about it. A sticking

:45:19. > :45:21.plaster will not do. That is finally believe that in time, we have to

:45:22. > :45:27.look again at the whole of devolution. We have to look at and

:45:28. > :45:31.Italy coalition and whether that is going to work, and it is certainly

:45:32. > :45:37.not working at Northern Ireland at the moment. -- coalition. We have

:45:38. > :45:42.huge decisions to take about our future, not least on the Brexit. The

:45:43. > :45:47.people of Northern Ireland are being denied that voice because one single

:45:48. > :45:53.party representing less than 30% of the vote, is refusing to go into

:45:54. > :45:58.Government. Surely, Madam Deputy Speaker, that is an unsustainable

:45:59. > :46:04.position. Whilst this legislation is open today, it is a first step,

:46:05. > :46:14.merely a bandage. It will not fix the problem, and we do need to fix

:46:15. > :46:17.the problem. In following the right honourable member for East Antrim,

:46:18. > :46:22.it struck me that the number of times that he condemned Sinn Fein

:46:23. > :46:36.for using a beetle, this coming from the DUP, the most vito-holic of all

:46:37. > :46:47.the parties we have seen. Let me first of all joined with others in

:46:48. > :46:51.referring to the grave attack at the weekend, the attempt to murder

:46:52. > :46:56.police officers, to use the precincts of a school to create

:46:57. > :47:01.disruption in a community and set up a situation where yet again, so

:47:02. > :47:10.police officers in Northern Ireland were going to be under threat. But I

:47:11. > :47:13.cannot join in the honourable member for East Antrim's attack on the

:47:14. > :47:19.BBC's first somehow making up untoward reference in relation to

:47:20. > :47:22.this, because he seems to admit that his own colleague, the honourable

:47:23. > :47:26.member for East Belfast yesterday, in a debate on the BBC that I was

:47:27. > :47:30.part of myself, made reference to that attack in the context of the

:47:31. > :47:35.political vacuum that exists and could continue to exist, which was

:47:36. > :47:40.made by a member of his own party, one of his own parliamentary

:47:41. > :47:45.colleagues, so to turn around and use this as yet another excuse

:47:46. > :47:54.brands have yet another goal at the BBC, just seems bizarre and out of

:47:55. > :48:04.place. -- yet another goal. -- yet another go. The SDLP and Sinn Fein

:48:05. > :48:09.joined together to stop Jerry Kelly from being suspended from the

:48:10. > :48:15.Assembly for five days. I believe the biggest abuse of the petition

:48:16. > :48:19.concerned comes whenever it is used for instance, to stop motions in the

:48:20. > :48:29.Assembly having any standing whatsoever, even non-binding motion.

:48:30. > :48:34.If people are going to use petitions of concern about motions of censure

:48:35. > :48:37.in one way, they cannot, they should recognise that people are going to

:48:38. > :48:42.say, if you're going to veto it, you are creating those rules, and

:48:43. > :48:50.therefore you will have to live by it. They need to return -- will be

:48:51. > :48:56.need to return to what was originally agreed in the Good Friday

:48:57. > :49:04.Agreement. It was provided as a trigger mechanism for an additional

:49:05. > :49:09.form by a special committee for concerns to rights and equality.

:49:10. > :49:12.That is all the petition of concern was provided for. Unfortunately, the

:49:13. > :49:20.legislation did not properly reflect that, and left it up to Standing

:49:21. > :49:24.Orders in the Assembly. The SDLP and the DUP have always been happy to

:49:25. > :49:30.read it as a dead end veto, which is never what was actually in the

:49:31. > :49:39.agreement, if people actually care to read the relevant paragraphs of

:49:40. > :49:43.the Agreement itself. It is not a prevention mechanism against the

:49:44. > :49:47.advancement of rights and equality, such as questions of equal marriage.

:49:48. > :49:56.I heard the honourable member for East Antrim attack another member of

:49:57. > :50:04.this House, saying that devolution is the opportunity to best make the

:50:05. > :50:08.laws that reflect the views of the society, and I quite agree with

:50:09. > :50:12.this. I am quite happy for the Assembly to make the laws that apply

:50:13. > :50:22.to equal marriage. The problem is that the Assembly is showing a clear

:50:23. > :50:28.contempt they are, similar to those in the South of Ireland, as shown by

:50:29. > :50:30.referendum, it is the DUP larvae to vetoing the devolved Assembly have

:50:31. > :50:35.that very legislative power. Jiri have the DUP criticising Sinn Fein

:50:36. > :50:42.for not allowing the Government function to be created where they

:50:43. > :50:45.are preventing the legislative function of the assembly. Who's veto

:50:46. > :50:59.trumps who's in this situation? The only man -- honourable member

:51:00. > :51:05.argued for a power-sharing and now is in favour of majority rule?

:51:06. > :51:11.That'll go down very well with his constituents. This member is

:51:12. > :51:18.entirely happy with operating the Good Friday Agreement as the people.

:51:19. > :51:25.Four. -- as the people voted for. If there were not concerns in relation

:51:26. > :51:31.to rights and equality, it could proceed in the normal way to the

:51:32. > :51:37.community. I make no apology for my part in negotiating in drafting the

:51:38. > :51:41.Good Friday Agreement, I regret that we had departed from it in so many

:51:42. > :51:46.ways. And of course, the honourable lady for not made the point in

:51:47. > :51:52.relation to the appointment of First Minister and Deputy First Minister,

:51:53. > :51:58.when I was a to the honour among member for aligning belly, is we

:51:59. > :52:02.need to get to a different way, there shouldn't be a situation where

:52:03. > :52:06.one party can veto, remember it was the St Andrews agreement are

:52:07. > :52:08.privatised the offices of First Minister and step at a first list

:52:09. > :52:17.are tricky part is, it specified which party, the biggest party of

:52:18. > :52:20.one that designation would appoint the First Minister and the biggest

:52:21. > :52:31.party of another designation would appoint the deputy first. The Good

:52:32. > :52:34.Friday Agreement provided for a free choice and the election of the First

:52:35. > :52:38.Minister. If the honourable members in any way serious, the next time we

:52:39. > :52:44.are tabling amendments in terms of telling how the first list as deputy

:52:45. > :52:49.first are appointed, he should be us in supporting the amendments, not

:52:50. > :52:55.opposing them. I did check with the clerks in relation to this bill as

:52:56. > :52:58.to whether not the relation to ministerial appointment and allow us

:52:59. > :53:00.to table such an amendment, and was told the narrow terms of the bill

:53:01. > :53:05.would not allow me to table that amendment, which I have table

:53:06. > :53:12.previously in the past. Madam Deputy Speaker, this bill is the regional

:53:13. > :53:17.rates bill, no doubt the way acronyms are used in this place it

:53:18. > :53:22.will be called the marble, but there's nothing memorial about this

:53:23. > :53:25.bill. It is purely making exigency provisions in terms of setting

:53:26. > :53:29.regional rate so that rates can be issued and candles can get their

:53:30. > :53:32.paper out of the district rate, and I are great that the bill is

:53:33. > :53:37.necessary, it has been necessary to bring it forward in this house, but

:53:38. > :53:41.in terms of allowing the revenue to come in to support public services,

:53:42. > :53:47.both those run by the consuls and those provided by the regional,

:53:48. > :53:52.departments, I support the bill in these terms. It is a fair bill as

:53:53. > :53:58.well in terms of resetting the meter, in terms of the appointment

:53:59. > :54:02.of ministers. I note that the Secretary of State has chosen a

:54:03. > :54:07.timeline that were broadly equate to what time and under the legislation

:54:08. > :54:12.would be if there was an Assembly election on the same day as the

:54:13. > :54:15.general. So those who have argued for an Assembly election on the same

:54:16. > :54:20.big can have no objection to that particular timeline. There is

:54:21. > :54:26.another coincidence in times of the timeline, we heard members referring

:54:27. > :54:29.to the budget pressures that are there, and the fact that the civil

:54:30. > :54:35.service are now having to assign the budget, or assign a percentage of

:54:36. > :54:39.the budget, in the absence of an elected Government in the Assembly,

:54:40. > :54:46.of course, the indication they might have been to all groups and budget

:54:47. > :54:49.holders, including community and voluntary sector but not only them,

:54:50. > :54:56.that their budget is guaranteed as it was for the first 13 weeks of the

:54:57. > :55:01.financial year and that'll bring us within a calendar week of the same

:55:02. > :55:04.deadline that we have. And that should concentrate minds, I hope it

:55:05. > :55:16.would concentrate minds about what the consequenceswould be about the

:55:17. > :55:20.absence of institutions. Will he accept that if there is no progress

:55:21. > :55:26.in the timescale that is being set in the legislation today, the

:55:27. > :55:29.Executive does need to bring further legislation to resolve these issues,

:55:30. > :55:33.as we cannot keep going through the financial crisis that the Department

:55:34. > :55:38.are currently in. What we have to do is use the time that was created

:55:39. > :55:42.here now. We also have to use such goodwill as any of us were able to

:55:43. > :55:47.detect in the talks in Stormont Castle over the past number of

:55:48. > :55:52.weeks. I, certainly, wouldn't come to the personal conclusion that one

:55:53. > :55:55.party is determined to prevent the formation of a Government

:55:56. > :56:01.altogether. I wish I had more evidence that I could point to to

:56:02. > :56:08.support my hunch that Sinn Fein would want to see the formation of a

:56:09. > :56:11.Government. It would be better if Sinn Fein would save more public to

:56:12. > :56:14.give people reason to believe that. Going back to the debate by

:56:15. > :56:18.departing on the BBC yesterday, I was struck by the fact that Chris

:56:19. > :56:21.Hazzard of Sinn Fein in relation to Brexit, talked about the fact that

:56:22. > :56:25.Sinn Fein would have a powerful position in relation to Brexit

:56:26. > :56:29.because of having four MPs and because of the fact that Dublin

:56:30. > :56:34.would have a say as a member state. He paid no premium on the decisions

:56:35. > :56:37.of the Assembly itself. He did not say that the important thing that

:56:38. > :56:40.would help us to offset some of the challenges of Brexit is if we have

:56:41. > :56:45.our own devolved Government and if that devolved Government is part of

:56:46. > :56:52.using and activating the Strand to structures which are the best way of

:56:53. > :56:57.things being done on a Northern Ireland bases, relevant sector is

:56:58. > :57:00.being treated as an island market, and that the relevant when it comes

:57:01. > :57:04.to you construct some programmes and funding as well. As has been

:57:05. > :57:09.indicated, there was none of that whatsoever from Sinn Fein, so I can

:57:10. > :57:12.see how people are worried that with what Sinn Fein are saying about

:57:13. > :57:16.Brexit, where the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement? Of

:57:17. > :57:20.course, Strand one would be pretty central to making does work, because

:57:21. > :57:27.as we know, Strand to can't be activated, unless we have Northern

:57:28. > :57:31.ministers in a Northern Executive. So it is imperative that we get our

:57:32. > :57:39.institutions up and running and a failure to do so means that we are

:57:40. > :57:42.then sentence to the car Brexit that people are complaining about

:57:43. > :57:51.Thunderbird about, but also a hard Brexit in the absence of any

:57:52. > :57:55.devolved, any north-south access that can be used there. Including

:57:56. > :58:00.the Northern Ireland Government. Member, Strand two of the Northern

:58:01. > :58:05.Ireland 's -- of the Good Friday Agreement allows that Northern

:58:06. > :58:09.Ireland will be involved in any EU meetings, so it gives the Irish room

:58:10. > :58:12.at a potential powerful role but I notice when Chris Hazzard was

:58:13. > :58:16.referring to the Irish Government's, no reference to the fact that they

:58:17. > :58:21.would be fighting the views of the north-south ministerial Council in

:58:22. > :58:31.EU meetings. That might be the reflecting the views of... I accept

:58:32. > :58:39.what the honourable member for the centre and said in religion to the

:58:40. > :58:46.RHI. -- said in relation to the rich eye. The DUP were seething at any

:58:47. > :58:54.suggestion that came from my colleague in Southdown or any of the

:58:55. > :59:03.Unionist party members as well, the DUP broken that the opposed to an

:59:04. > :59:05.enquiry, we made it clear that the committee was sufficient, there is

:59:06. > :59:10.no need for any other enquiry, and of course, we had Sinn Fein on board

:59:11. > :59:15.with that for a while as well. But things fell apart with them. Member,

:59:16. > :59:22.one we hear the member free stand from question, and I would question

:59:23. > :59:25.to, why was there no budget, where is there no sign of what the

:59:26. > :59:34.devolved budget would have been? Back in the 21st of November, we had

:59:35. > :59:38.DUP and Sinn Fein issuing joint articles, no gimmicks, no

:59:39. > :59:41.grandstanding, and we had no sign of a draft budget coming. The DUP were

:59:42. > :59:44.happy to say that it was good Government not to have a draft

:59:45. > :59:53.budget at that stage, we now at a point where we should have had the

:59:54. > :59:57.budget. The Mills and Boon version of lovely Government that we are

:59:58. > :00:04.being given by Sinn Fein and the DUP back in November, but then the

:00:05. > :00:14.wheels started to come off and the pressure around the RHI issue and

:00:15. > :00:18.remember, what was the root cause of the arguments around the RHI

:00:19. > :00:27.scandal? The root cause was that the DUP felt that they had to account,

:00:28. > :00:29.not to the Assembly, that they were appointed entirely according to

:00:30. > :00:33.their own mandate, we are Arlene Foster said that she had a mandate

:00:34. > :00:38.from the people of Northern Ireland. The DUP's mandate was no greater

:00:39. > :00:44.than the mandate that the Labour Party got in Great Britain, and yet,

:00:45. > :00:47.we were being told by Arlene Foster that she had a mandate from the

:00:48. > :00:50.people of Northern Ireland which meant she could ignore the mandate

:00:51. > :00:56.everyone else had in the assembler, because you were appointed, because,

:00:57. > :00:59.unlike what was provided for in the Good Friday Agreement, she was

:01:00. > :01:02.appointed in the Assembly, she had no accountability in the Assembly

:01:03. > :01:05.which is widely DUP made clear that they would veto any motion the

:01:06. > :01:11.assembled pass in relation to the RHI, and of course, that's what they

:01:12. > :01:16.did. And so they ignored not just what should have been the proper

:01:17. > :01:24.authority and their accountability to the Assembly about, they also

:01:25. > :01:27.broke the new Chila take and I'm responsible -- neutrality and joint

:01:28. > :01:31.response below to that were supposed to be there and made it very

:01:32. > :01:35.difficult for Martin McGuinness to continue as though no other strains

:01:36. > :01:47.are present in existence. -- the mutuality. Honourable members have

:01:48. > :01:50.also touched on legacy issues, unfortunately, given the advice on

:01:51. > :01:55.time, I would be able to go into some of the legacy points, but I do

:01:56. > :01:59.I know is the fact that the honourable member for Blaydon

:02:00. > :02:04.referred to a case that happened in my constituency. I would also make

:02:05. > :02:10.the point that some of the honourable members opposite have

:02:11. > :02:13.raised concerns about former officers being pursued in relation

:02:14. > :02:17.to former cases, I would make the point that a lot of these previous

:02:18. > :02:21.cases being presented here as though people are being perceived for

:02:22. > :02:24.prosecutions, have actually been in relation to inquests about

:02:25. > :02:29.controversial deaths and the new inquests have actually shown that

:02:30. > :02:32.the people who were killed that were previously reported as having been

:02:33. > :02:37.terrorists or conmen were not, therefore that they're killing was

:02:38. > :02:41.wrong. So it is entirely the judgment that legacy issues should

:02:42. > :02:49.be preserved. -- reported as having been terrorists or gunmen. And this

:02:50. > :02:52.House has been given false account of those deaths, so it is entirely

:02:53. > :02:57.proper that those deaths should be pursued. Also English and to the

:02:58. > :03:08.legacy, I would make the point that -- in relation to the legacy, while

:03:09. > :03:10.there has been limited agreement, notwithstanding the disagreement

:03:11. > :03:17.around national security questions, as far as the STL PR concern, we

:03:18. > :03:24.want to seek more architecture involution to legacy issues, because

:03:25. > :03:30.at the moment there are the individual reports in relation to

:03:31. > :03:40.individual cases, not joining the dots between them. Also, there are

:03:41. > :03:46.many other legacies of victimhood of the Troubles that I'd just in

:03:47. > :03:49.relation to killings, -- aren't just in relation to killings, and many

:03:50. > :03:57.questions that people have in relation to the pattern of violence,

:03:58. > :04:04.people want to see examined and tested, and I think that is what we

:04:05. > :04:10.give a more equal assessment in relation to the past. And we will

:04:11. > :04:16.look at these proposals -- we looked at these proposals when we had

:04:17. > :04:23.talks, there are particular ideas are wrong is wrong approach around

:04:24. > :04:27.the Mattocks, which would have reflected... It window may have

:04:28. > :04:32.reflected state breaches, it would have been very open and wide and the

:04:33. > :04:40.Rand responsive. I'd do think we need to get back to those sorts of

:04:41. > :04:48.arrangements in respect of the past. In relation to other issues such as

:04:49. > :04:57.the Irish Glenwood Act, we do need to make progress their -- Irish

:04:58. > :04:59.Language, Act, and back at the time of this and Andrews agreement, we

:05:00. > :05:05.had a pledge from the British Government that it would legislate

:05:06. > :05:10.for an Irishman would act, but the only commitment on the part of the

:05:11. > :05:13.parties was for a Irish language strategy. There were ambiguities and

:05:14. > :05:17.contradictions built in there. Some of us sought clarity is at the time,

:05:18. > :05:28.Sam was pointed out at the time that Sinn Fein were saying that there be

:05:29. > :05:32.an Irish Mind Would Act in the Assembly, and some of us would crowd

:05:33. > :05:37.for pointing out the truth of the situation. But whatever the problems

:05:38. > :05:41.involution to the Irish Language Act, whatever the issues in relation

:05:42. > :05:45.to how things are taken for, we need to remember that Brexit is the

:05:46. > :05:51.biggest issue facing us all. Wheels need to remember that if we want to

:05:52. > :05:55.that at other factors that helped to bring about the discolouration in

:05:56. > :06:01.the politics around our institution, the fact it was Brexit. Brexit have

:06:02. > :06:03.made a much bigger difference to the political analyst in Northern

:06:04. > :06:09.Ireland and people in these benches care to admit.

:06:10. > :06:16.The honourable member turns to the issue of Brexit, which he says is

:06:17. > :06:22.the most fundamental. Will he take any comfort from the fact that the

:06:23. > :06:26.British Government has ruled out a hard border, the Irish Government

:06:27. > :06:29.has ruled out a hard border, and the even you has ruled out a hard

:06:30. > :06:37.border? Does he accept there will not be one? I accept that all of the

:06:38. > :06:42.people the honourable member has called it has given that indication.

:06:43. > :06:47.What they have not said is how it will be done. The Prime Minister has

:06:48. > :06:50.also been careful to say is it will be, as extraction was as and

:06:51. > :06:56.seamless as possible. No return to the hard borders of the past. -- as

:06:57. > :07:02.frictionless and seamless. The best way of preventing hard borders in

:07:03. > :07:05.the future is to properly use the machinery of the Good Friday

:07:06. > :07:10.Agreement, which allows for areas of cooperation and joint and

:07:11. > :07:17.COMMENTATOR on, and allows us to say that there should be concerted

:07:18. > :07:22.action on a north-south basis. Given the EU's historic position, that

:07:23. > :07:27.should be accurately reflected, and of the British Government is serious

:07:28. > :07:31.about honouring the Good Friday Agreement, they should be serious

:07:32. > :07:35.about honouring the Good Friday Agreement as well. We didn't have to

:07:36. > :07:39.negotiate a new special status for Northern Ireland. We have to say

:07:40. > :07:46.that we have the full optimisation of the Good Friday Agreement in the

:07:47. > :07:52.context of any Brexit, so that we use the East-West structures of the

:07:53. > :07:56.Agreement as well, not least the British, Irish inter-governmental

:07:57. > :08:02.discussions. It can address all of the non-devolved issues that the two

:08:03. > :08:06.governments have in common, and all ministers can be involved on the

:08:07. > :08:12.devolved matters, which I believe would be a much more attractive

:08:13. > :08:15.facility to devolved ministers than even European negotiations, because

:08:16. > :08:21.the common expedient of all devolved administrations is that they find

:08:22. > :08:24.that confusing and belittling. Using the structures and mechanisms of the

:08:25. > :08:28.Good Friday Agreement would give us the best answer to Brexit, but we

:08:29. > :08:34.will not do that unless we use the additional time given in this Bill

:08:35. > :08:48.in an Assembly that was elected on the 2nd of March. I usually get

:08:49. > :08:52.called at the end! Today I am somewhere in the middle. It is

:08:53. > :09:00.always a pleasure to speak on any issue in this House. First of all, I

:09:01. > :09:05.congratulate the Secretary of State on the mentation of measures in this

:09:06. > :09:09.Bill. This is not where we want to be, but we are committed to the

:09:10. > :09:15.Northern Ireland Assembly and to the democratic process. This Bill today

:09:16. > :09:18.gives us all an opportunity, perhaps, to make a contribution to

:09:19. > :09:27.it. There have been some very valuable contributions so far. We

:09:28. > :09:32.had a functioning executive that was more than fit to handle this issue,

:09:33. > :09:37.and to bring Northern Ireland into a prosperous economy. I would like to

:09:38. > :09:39.talk in the short times I have on the positives of the Northern

:09:40. > :09:44.Ireland Assembly and what they have done, and what they can deliver.

:09:45. > :09:47.When you look at the stats and the figures that we have, they are quite

:09:48. > :09:57.incredible. Northern Ireland has seen its unemployment rate drop, and

:09:58. > :10:05.my own constituency has seen a drop of 5.3%, approximately down to 3.5%

:10:06. > :10:07.for unemployment claimants. This has been achieved by the Democratic

:10:08. > :10:10.Unionist Party being in Government in Northern Ireland and making it

:10:11. > :10:17.work, getting their business done. That is what we do, we get the

:10:18. > :10:26.business done. We supported the promotion of over 40,000 jobs,

:10:27. > :10:29.beating the target of 20 5000. Positives that can happen when you

:10:30. > :10:34.have a good Assembly that works together and you have parties that

:10:35. > :10:39.are committed, not a one party that is stopping the whole process. We

:10:40. > :10:47.have had ?585 million on research and development, almost double the

:10:48. > :10:52.target of ?300 million, and 72% of new jobs have been in the Northern

:10:53. > :10:56.Ireland public sector. That gives some indication of what can happen

:10:57. > :11:00.when the Northern Ireland Assembly is working. It delivered, and it did

:11:01. > :11:05.so at the highest level, with figures way beyond the comprehension

:11:06. > :11:10.of many. We took control when we had control of the air passenger duty on

:11:11. > :11:18.the long haul flights. That was taken from us by Europe, but we are

:11:19. > :11:23.now going to wake the dust off her coat in relation to Europe, and with

:11:24. > :11:26.men may have a working Assembly, we can put ourselves on the market

:11:27. > :11:30.again for a long haul flights. These are some of the things we can do.

:11:31. > :11:39.Northern Ireland has also had more than 1 million visitors in the last

:11:40. > :11:44.three years, with two dozen spending ratings ?752 million in 2014,

:11:45. > :11:49.increasing each year since then. 80 cruise ships and an estimated

:11:50. > :11:54.145,000 guests came to Northern Ireland in 2016, and this year, the

:11:55. > :11:56.figures show even more growth in that sector. Again, this happens

:11:57. > :12:08.when you have a working Assembly with parties who are committed to

:12:09. > :12:12.it. The DUP continued its policy, ensuring that tens of millions of

:12:13. > :12:18.pounds have been saved by local businesses, protecting the small

:12:19. > :12:23.business rates release scheme, which has benefited many small businesses

:12:24. > :12:32.across Ireland. Again, this party did that, by approximately ?80

:12:33. > :12:37.million per year. This resulted in reduced rates bills for many

:12:38. > :12:44.businesses, and 525 new businesses have benefited from the introduction

:12:45. > :12:47.in 2012, when the Assembly was working, it's delivered. When it was

:12:48. > :12:52.operational, it could bring success to the people of Northern Ireland.

:12:53. > :12:54.This party was committed to that, and we still are, and we are looking

:12:55. > :13:01.for other parties to make their contribution. For years, business

:13:02. > :13:03.organisations wanted to devolved corporation tax. It has been

:13:04. > :13:08.described as a potential game changer for our economy will stop

:13:09. > :13:16.other parties were not sure what to do, and give up on achieving it,

:13:17. > :13:22.while the DUP persisted. We have no lord the tax to a rate of 12.5%.

:13:23. > :13:30.Now, there is a? Over that because of Sinn Fein, if the Assembly was

:13:31. > :13:37.back and working, we could deliver that and create more jobs, this will

:13:38. > :13:41.build on the strength of our workforce. It makes Northern Ireland

:13:42. > :13:45.and attractive investment opportunity. When the executive was

:13:46. > :13:52.up and running, it could deliver, and it should still, and it can.

:13:53. > :13:59.This does not read like a non-functioning executive. This has

:14:00. > :14:03.been brought down by those who had political aspirations to be in

:14:04. > :14:09.control and to push a political point. Everybody who has spoken

:14:10. > :14:14.today has given their opinion on political points that Sinn Fein have

:14:15. > :14:18.pushed hard on, and they have been very eloquent. It was brought down

:14:19. > :14:22.by those who do not have representatives in this House to

:14:23. > :14:26.fight for Northern Ireland, who never set on these green benches,

:14:27. > :14:30.who never make a decision based on the people for Northern Ireland who

:14:31. > :14:34.have elected them. They are going to go into a new election to try to

:14:35. > :14:42.determine the body cure, it is hard to believe how this can be. -- to

:14:43. > :14:45.return nobody here. I will be standing, and my party will be

:14:46. > :14:49.standing in this forthcoming election, as a party who worked hard

:14:50. > :14:55.on the ground for our constituents. We work hard in this place, as the

:14:56. > :14:59.figures and the stats will show, for our constituencies, and we work hard

:15:00. > :15:04.with my party and with the DUP for our party and for our people. We are

:15:05. > :15:07.left in a situation where the Secretary of State has to step in,

:15:08. > :15:11.and I am thankful that he has been willing to do this. This is not what

:15:12. > :15:18.we want, and not what the people of Northern Ireland deserve. Just a few

:15:19. > :15:23.weeks ago, a member who has just left the chamber had a meeting with

:15:24. > :15:28.the education authority chief executive, and we were pressing for

:15:29. > :15:33.some funds for the outdoor sectors. At that meeting, which was very

:15:34. > :15:36.constructive, with the chief Executive indicating that even

:15:37. > :15:42.without the budget, they were ?73 million short this year. That is

:15:43. > :15:48.what they are short without the Assembly functioning, what are going

:15:49. > :15:55.to do when it continues? Does he recognise that even if the Secretary

:15:56. > :15:59.of State did take the powers to take over all budgetary issues, that the

:16:00. > :16:05.pattern of spend has been established in previous years of the

:16:06. > :16:11.Assembly, and that any new initiatives can not be fermented,

:16:12. > :16:15.simply because the power would be simply to disperse the funds on the

:16:16. > :16:20.same basis as they were in the past, even though there may now be

:16:21. > :16:26.different priorities, and even taking over budgetary powers is not

:16:27. > :16:29.going to resolve the problem? My honourable friend and colleague for

:16:30. > :16:34.East Antrim is absolutely right, but we cannot address the issues because

:16:35. > :16:38.we do not have an Assembly that is working together. If we had that, we

:16:39. > :16:44.could at least make some decisions, but we need those committed to the

:16:45. > :16:47.finance minister to bring a budget forward, as others have indicated,

:16:48. > :16:56.and it is very frustrating to be in this position. The Shadow minister

:16:57. > :16:59.in this House spoke about, he gave one example that my colleague for a

:17:00. > :17:05.North Antrim referred to, but he did not give any examples of those from

:17:06. > :17:08.the Unionist tradition. I'm disappointed, because I do look upon

:17:09. > :17:16.him as a friend and I wish them well in his retirement, but he could have

:17:17. > :17:24.mentioned Bloody Friday, when bombs blew people to bits. He could have

:17:25. > :17:32.mentioned those things as something for the Unionist community. He could

:17:33. > :17:37.also mention the IRA murdering and killing innocent people on a night

:17:38. > :17:42.out. He could have mentioned the restaurant where people were

:17:43. > :17:44.murdered just having a meal. These are examples that are Unionist

:17:45. > :17:50.community wants to know where the enquiries are. I will accept that

:17:51. > :17:55.this is of course a pattern that we see from the Labour Party, and

:17:56. > :18:07.especially the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn, who has even refused

:18:08. > :18:14.to acknowledge requests... The leader of the Labour Party, or the

:18:15. > :18:19.member for Islington North? This is a pattern that has been established

:18:20. > :18:26.under the leadership of the member for Islington North, whose has

:18:27. > :18:36.refused to knowledge letters from a man whose son was killed. I am happy

:18:37. > :18:41.to give way. I would like to make it very clear that I made the specific

:18:42. > :18:46.point about the case I raised because it was the length of time

:18:47. > :18:51.that that had happened. It was to say to people in Northern Ireland

:18:52. > :18:56.and in this House, we have had 48 years to get the legacy thing put

:18:57. > :19:00.right. It was not about saying, and the gentleman has just spoken about

:19:01. > :19:05.at least five or six other things, that I fully agree could have been

:19:06. > :19:09.mentioned. It is unreasonable for the families of all the victims to

:19:10. > :19:18.wait any time, but particularly 48 years. My cousins and our family are

:19:19. > :19:26.waiting 46 years for the matter to be addressed.

:19:27. > :19:34.My constituents are awaiting 27 years for justice for those people.

:19:35. > :19:38.We are looking for justice and we want to see it coming and we want to

:19:39. > :19:44.see it coming from across the chamber. I am quite happy to respect

:19:45. > :19:48.everyone else if there is a case to be answered. If that is a case from

:19:49. > :19:52.our side to be answered, I want to hear it being talked about. I want

:19:53. > :19:59.to hear about enquiries for unionist people who have enjoyed some 35

:20:00. > :20:03.years of terrorism. Down by the border, where people were murdered

:20:04. > :20:09.because they were Protestants and unionists and White did they get? It

:20:10. > :20:12.was for their land. That is an example of what happened. We never

:20:13. > :20:20.hear that from elements in their cells. It has to be heard. I thank

:20:21. > :20:23.him for giving way. Remember also heard we were chastised because we

:20:24. > :20:28.represented certain traditional values. I have a letter from a

:20:29. > :20:35.parish priest in my constituency thanking me for the work that our

:20:36. > :20:44.party does standing up. I will show you the letter. Interventions are

:20:45. > :20:47.getting extremely long. Members are referring to each other directly. We

:20:48. > :20:55.do not do that. We speak through the chair. Really, I think the tone of

:20:56. > :21:00.the debate up to now has been very good and I really do not want to see

:21:01. > :21:03.that disappearing. I understand the passions and detentions and the

:21:04. > :21:11.importance of this, but the tone of the debate should be maintained as

:21:12. > :21:13.it has been so far. I come to my last few comments. I think the

:21:14. > :21:19.Secretary of State for comment this Bill and the contribution that he

:21:20. > :21:26.and the minister has made in the talks process. They have tried hard

:21:27. > :21:31.to move it forward and they know you have our full support in what you

:21:32. > :21:35.are bringing forward. We fully support these interim measures in

:21:36. > :21:40.the hopes Executive will be able to function soon. All the things we

:21:41. > :21:46.mentioned, all the things where wicked bridges and deployment. Keep

:21:47. > :21:50.upgrading jobs and prosperity and focusing on the things that matter

:21:51. > :21:54.for the young people today. For those he seek to spat in the wake of

:21:55. > :21:59.democracy, they will realise what we have been dealing with for years. We

:22:00. > :22:03.do not enjoy sitting beside unrepentant terrorists, but must do

:22:04. > :22:06.so as they have a mandate and the country must function as a democracy

:22:07. > :22:11.and we accept that and understand the process. They may not look

:22:12. > :22:13.forward to sitting beside us but we have the mandate is the largest

:22:14. > :22:18.party in Northern Ireland. This is the definition of democracy. I say

:22:19. > :22:24.to Sinn Fein, if you cannot work with us, resigned your seats and

:22:25. > :22:29.have those who have the good of Northern Ireland in mind to do the

:22:30. > :22:32.jobs so we do not have the come here again with more interim measures

:22:33. > :22:36.which indicate the democracy and failure for the people of Northern

:22:37. > :22:40.Ireland. Let's be positive and let this is only an interim measure and

:22:41. > :22:44.hopefully by the end of June, the parties will come together. Can I

:22:45. > :22:49.ask Sinn Fein to make that contribution? Step away from the

:22:50. > :22:51.high bar they have set and let's have a negotiation that leads

:22:52. > :23:03.somewhere for the people of Northern Ireland. Both sides, those who want

:23:04. > :23:08.a way forward. May I congratulate the honourable member for Strangford

:23:09. > :23:14.for his positive contribution today. That was really what we needed. It

:23:15. > :23:17.was getting the leak at times. May I also think the Secretary of State

:23:18. > :23:19.for all the work he has put into Northern Ireland, gone out and

:23:20. > :23:26.meeting people throughout the community and listening to people. I

:23:27. > :23:29.want to echo his words and sentiments about the bomb outside

:23:30. > :23:33.the premise good. Quite disgraceful. That should think should never

:23:34. > :23:37.happen. We thought we had moved away from adult and it emphasises how

:23:38. > :23:40.brittle the Northern Ireland situation is and how it. All of us,

:23:41. > :23:46.everywhere, to find the right way forward. I also thank the right

:23:47. > :23:53.honourable member for all he has done for coming and speaking to our

:23:54. > :23:56.party conference, for the things I do not agree with, it stood the

:23:57. > :24:00.debate up so it got quite lively and we did talk about some of the issues

:24:01. > :24:06.which needed to be talked about today. There is one party who are

:24:07. > :24:10.not here, they tickle the money and the fees and do not represent its

:24:11. > :24:15.people and yet paints itself to the rest of the world as the cuddly bear

:24:16. > :24:21.of Northern Irish politics when, in fact, it is a different type of

:24:22. > :24:24.their altogether. We very much welcome the Bill today and the

:24:25. > :24:31.provisions in it and the breathing space it has given to the gift of

:24:32. > :24:34.June. It has allowed us to put in place the things Northern Ireland

:24:35. > :24:39.once. There are key decisions needed on public finance and we know things

:24:40. > :24:44.are. The most vulnerable are always be people who pay the price and yet,

:24:45. > :24:48.within those budgets, there are still great difficulties looming

:24:49. > :24:51.ahead of us. Schools I have been talking to save the working on

:24:52. > :24:55.budgets with no plans for the future. They are using guesswork.

:24:56. > :25:02.There is one case in my constituency of the GAA for the pictures from the

:25:03. > :25:06.local integrated school. They can no longer do that because cuts to the

:25:07. > :25:09.screen meant they cannot have a caretaker to look after the pictures

:25:10. > :25:15.so they cannot train for their games. In other cases, there is

:25:16. > :25:19.massive capital expenditure needed in education and a note today that

:25:20. > :25:22.the budget presented is a two and a half percent cut in education and

:25:23. > :25:27.this light rays and health. There are a lot of problems ahead. We need

:25:28. > :25:31.flexibility in there, but in line with the question I asked earlier,

:25:32. > :25:34.we need mechanisms so when people come to politicians in this time of

:25:35. > :25:38.limbo for the Stormont government, that there is always a way of

:25:39. > :25:45.feeding that information to the heads of Department and getting

:25:46. > :25:48.action and getting some flexibility. I note that what has been put in

:25:49. > :25:51.place does not have a statutory footing entirely and hope that it

:25:52. > :25:57.therefore does not lead us into a world that can be challenged in the

:25:58. > :26:01.courts. We would also to hear on corporation tax, which has been

:26:02. > :26:07.raised earlier, what the intentions are to do with corporation tax

:26:08. > :26:10.because it was meant to coming in 2018. Will the Secretary of State

:26:11. > :26:16.confirm that will still be the case if Stormont is not in place. We

:26:17. > :26:19.have, as many have turned two, discussed the fact that you have

:26:20. > :26:24.Negi MLAs and the working away and their offices for looking after

:26:25. > :26:28.people on the ground, but we'd decisions made. We should focus on

:26:29. > :26:31.health and education and welfare and instead we are being dragged away

:26:32. > :26:36.into the Irish language and other matters which we are finding it

:26:37. > :26:40.difficult to get everyone to agree on. May I emphasise what others have

:26:41. > :26:45.said, which is the legacy issues? We have defined the way forward. The

:26:46. > :26:49.Secretary of State looks to bring in consultation and I welcome the

:26:50. > :26:52.outcome of that, we must never forget the victims. They must always

:26:53. > :26:56.be well looked after and not just in Northern Ireland. There are victims

:26:57. > :27:02.over here who are not properly looked after. He knows how keen I am

:27:03. > :27:06.that we are always looking after the servicemen and making sure there is

:27:07. > :27:10.no equality with the terrorists and there must be a way forward on

:27:11. > :27:13.legacy. There has to be a solution there and it needs of others sitting

:27:14. > :27:24.down and it does need the pressure on Sinn Fein to make everyone sit

:27:25. > :27:34.down. It is key that we get the Assembly up and running because of

:27:35. > :27:42.Brexit and whether we should remain and we must listen to the result,

:27:43. > :27:44.but we... We went to Dublin between Britain Northern Ireland affairs

:27:45. > :27:48.committee and found out that Unionism is not there with its voice

:27:49. > :27:53.either because of the limits of Strand to work because we do not

:27:54. > :27:57.have a government of our own. We must have a way to make sure that

:27:58. > :28:00.all types of Unionism, not just DUP, but UUP and others are being

:28:01. > :28:11.listened to two of the Brexit negotiations. We need to see 18 MPs

:28:12. > :28:15.back here, but just 14. We need to make sure everyone is being

:28:16. > :28:19.represented and if you click through, it is 250,000 people in

:28:20. > :28:25.Northern Ireland who are not being represented and that is very key to

:28:26. > :28:29.Brexit and we need to make sure that our farmers in every constituency

:28:30. > :28:32.are being listened to just as much as we are looking after our

:28:33. > :28:37.universities and businesses, Trinity and voluntary sector and would keep

:28:38. > :28:40.speak that God is our environment. We must make sure that that is very

:28:41. > :28:50.much part of the Brexit negotiations. I am fascinated

:28:51. > :28:53.listening to those recommending the mandatory coalition is not the way

:28:54. > :28:57.forward. The number of times I have spoken to the Secretary of State

:28:58. > :29:01.using the definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and

:29:02. > :29:05.again. It is great to hear others changing their mind when looking at

:29:06. > :29:08.different options. We need to find another way of working together,

:29:09. > :29:13.whether it is voluntary coalition. If we have a voluntary coalition, we

:29:14. > :29:18.have to make sure we look after the minorities so it is not without its

:29:19. > :29:21.difficulties. You could even have a minority government if the two major

:29:22. > :29:25.parties cannot agree, but we do need to sit down, all of this, and find a

:29:26. > :29:30.way forward. I know every single person sitting here wants solutions

:29:31. > :29:35.and can work together and one party that isn't here doesn't make it

:29:36. > :29:39.easy, but it doesn't mean the other parties here are not at fault. A

:29:40. > :29:44.little bit of humility, a little bit of dealing with the RHI and

:29:45. > :29:48.realising it was a certain party's fault. We could work that much

:29:49. > :29:52.better together and I longed to see Northern Ireland working. I do not

:29:53. > :29:57.want to see devolved government failing. If it is not working, if we

:29:58. > :30:00.are going to have direct route, it has to be for as short a time as

:30:01. > :30:06.possible, as effective as possible but it also has to be listening to

:30:07. > :30:09.all of this in Northern Ireland. I think the Secretary of State for

:30:10. > :30:11.what he has put in place today. I hope we get there and I look forward

:30:12. > :30:22.to seeing Northern Ireland really thrive in the future. Thank you very

:30:23. > :30:26.much, Madam Deputy Speaker. I, like many in the North of Ireland, am

:30:27. > :30:30.saddened that we have got to this impasse which has created the issues

:30:31. > :30:34.we are trying to solve today. We have so many problems that need to

:30:35. > :30:40.be faced. We will not face them or solve them by trading insults or

:30:41. > :30:45.abuse, so I will attempt to be as positive as possible and I will

:30:46. > :30:53.avoid a well known past and in Northern Ireland. I wanted to pay

:30:54. > :30:56.tribute to the Shadow Secretary of State for his outstanding public

:30:57. > :31:01.service over many years, but in This House and in the years before he

:31:02. > :31:05.arrived here. Thank you David. I know that all in This House will

:31:06. > :31:09.wish him well and those of us who have worked with them will miss him.

:31:10. > :31:16.His kindness, his tolerance and his caring approach. Firstly, Madam

:31:17. > :31:22.Deputy Speaker, I would like to touch on what I consider to be an

:31:23. > :31:27.absurd and relatively insulting suggestion by my friend, the

:31:28. > :31:31.honourable member for Lagan Valley, that the SDLP did nothing about the

:31:32. > :31:40.killing of Robert McCartney in a bar in Belfast in 2005. His point is

:31:41. > :31:43.that accurate nor well made. No one can criticise me in how outspoken I

:31:44. > :31:48.was about the murder of Robert McCartney. Madam Deputy Speaker,

:31:49. > :31:52.Sinn Fein come in the immediate aftermath were still trying to

:31:53. > :31:57.pretend it was the result of some sort of knife crime. I unequivocally

:31:58. > :32:04.pointed the finger clearly and without equivocation at IRA

:32:05. > :32:09.involvement in that matter. I thank the honourable member for South

:32:10. > :32:13.Belfast forgiving way. I would want to correct him and I may have got

:32:14. > :32:18.the location wrong in terms of where the murder was carried out, what I

:32:19. > :32:27.am talking about here is actually a tit-for-tat double murder of Jock

:32:28. > :32:31.Davidson and Robert McGuigan, Kevin McGuigan, sorry, Kevin McGuigan.

:32:32. > :32:37.That it occurred in a period when Sinn Fein were in government and one

:32:38. > :32:40.of those murders was carried out in his constituency and there was

:32:41. > :32:43.simply making the point that I did much of the honourable member on

:32:44. > :32:50.that occasion when there were multiple murders involved Colin into

:32:51. > :32:53.question Sinn Fein's fitness for government or his confidence in the

:32:54. > :33:01.government in those circumstances. I think it is a fair point to make.

:33:02. > :33:06.Well, the record will show that the member referred to a murder in a bar

:33:07. > :33:12.and the only murder in a bar was Robert McCartney. Madam Deputy

:33:13. > :33:14.Speaker, I was involved, active politically in criticising both the

:33:15. > :33:31.murder of Jock Davidson and the murder of Kevin McGuigan. And the

:33:32. > :33:36.government? I am being heckled. I can remind my honourable friend that

:33:37. > :33:41.when it came to the talks that took place in Stormont house, it was the

:33:42. > :33:45.SDLP who submitted The Papers in relation to a whole community

:33:46. > :33:49.approach to tackling paramilitaries. It was the SDLP who put in a whole

:33:50. > :33:53.enforcement approach to tackling paramilitaries and, in fact, it was

:33:54. > :33:57.the SDLP who wanted paramilitary sub and criminality on the agenda and it

:33:58. > :34:07.was the DUP who helped veto that. Nonsense. We risk getting into

:34:08. > :34:12.arguments. We are probably deeply into it. At the time, I want to put

:34:13. > :34:21.on the record, that I was very critical, publicly and aggressively,

:34:22. > :34:26.on the murder... I think we are really very much in danger of

:34:27. > :34:30.ranging quite far outside the Bill, or the second reading of the Bill,

:34:31. > :34:34.and we are getting bogged down in the specifics about individual

:34:35. > :34:38.parties and I understand why and where this is coming from, but if we

:34:39. > :34:41.could keep a bit more closely to the second reading part of the Bill then

:34:42. > :34:47.that would be fantastic. Thank you very much.

:34:48. > :34:53.Thank you, Madame Deputy Speaker, but allegations were made and I felt

:34:54. > :34:58.I had to respond to them, but I will leave it at that. We can deal with

:34:59. > :35:04.it privately, and sort it out over a cup of tea! Moving on, Madame Deputy

:35:05. > :35:11.Speaker, I am not a violent man, so... Moving on, Madame Deputy

:35:12. > :35:19.Speaker - we are in this situation now because of our failure to face a

:35:20. > :35:22.reality. Will people not agree with me, the difficulties around the

:35:23. > :35:25.renewable heating initiative triggered a sequence of events which

:35:26. > :35:31.spun out of control. People out there want answers, and people feel

:35:32. > :35:38.that they need and deserve answers. Many of those who want answers are

:35:39. > :35:41.not all nationalists, many unionists are also horrified by the events

:35:42. > :35:47.around that situation. I will leave it at that. Clouds of confusion or

:35:48. > :35:52.poking each other in the eye only makes things worse. I say to the

:35:53. > :35:55.Secretary of State that it is vital that no stone is left unturned until

:35:56. > :36:01.devolution is restored in Northern Ireland. I say to him that we have

:36:02. > :36:03.massive problems that must be faced. Northern Ireland is suffering from a

:36:04. > :36:09.total lack of confidence in our institutions. There are many in this

:36:10. > :36:16.issues facing us but four big ones are jumping out. Brexit - Northern

:36:17. > :36:20.Ireland voted against it. To my mind, it will be very difficult for

:36:21. > :36:23.Northern Ireland. It is multilayered, but to take one

:36:24. > :36:29.example- I am inundated with community groups and community

:36:30. > :36:32.workers, peace building groups in various communities who are

:36:33. > :36:36.depending heavily on European peace funds to carry out their work. They

:36:37. > :36:43.are facing collapse due to the lack of funding and not on any one

:36:44. > :36:49.particular side of the divide. Secondly, Madame Deputy Speaker, our

:36:50. > :36:53.economy, we mentioned earlier the reduction in corporation tax and how

:36:54. > :36:59.that has been interfered with and delayed. Madame Deputy Speaker,

:37:00. > :37:03.aside from corporation tax, there was meant to be a prosperity

:37:04. > :37:09.dividend following the peace process that never came. To my mind, peace

:37:10. > :37:15.will not be fully sustained unless our economy gets a boost and real

:37:16. > :37:20.jobs are created? Currently, we have no budget, and this has serious

:37:21. > :37:25.consequences, particularly for our schools and health service. The

:37:26. > :37:31.member for South Antrim mentioned many of the problems in education. I

:37:32. > :37:38.won't repeat them. But I will point out one thing - we have very

:37:39. > :37:42.difficult, serious problems with underachievement and despite some

:37:43. > :37:46.big successes in some schools, I would urge the Secretary of State to

:37:47. > :37:52.work with me and my colleagues in north Belfast and east Belfast to do

:37:53. > :37:57.what we can to solve the crisis of underachievement in education in

:37:58. > :38:01.marginalised areas. It is frightening. And I would be very

:38:02. > :38:06.glad, in conjunction with my colleagues from neighbouring

:38:07. > :38:08.constituencies, if the Secretary of State or the undersecretary of

:38:09. > :38:13.state, could find the time to visit these schools, because it's despair

:38:14. > :38:17.plus for some of the people who try to teach in these schools. And these

:38:18. > :38:21.are the people who are suffering more than any as a result of the

:38:22. > :38:25.present difficulties. We need to deal with this education despair,

:38:26. > :38:32.and the disadvantage in these areas. Because if we don't deal with it, we

:38:33. > :38:38.are creating an underclass of people who will have no stake in society

:38:39. > :38:44.and will be disruptive to society in the years ahead. That's if you like

:38:45. > :38:48.the self-interest. The broad interest is, we have a duty to

:38:49. > :38:53.ensure that all children of the nation are treated equally. On

:38:54. > :38:58.health, Secretary of State, our health service is stumbling towards

:38:59. > :39:00.despair. Primary care struggles to cope with hospital waiting lists,

:39:01. > :39:09.particularly surgical waiting lists. I won't go into the detail. But

:39:10. > :39:15.Madame Deputy Speaker, I can want to make one point, and I hope it will

:39:16. > :39:21.be taken with the honesty in which it is made. Attacks on the Irish

:39:22. > :39:24.language... In fact I was tempted to make this speech in Gaelic today,

:39:25. > :39:31.but I decided out of courtesy I wouldn't. A tax on Irish language --

:39:32. > :39:36.attacks on the Irish language and immature abuse of those who wish to

:39:37. > :39:41.speak Gaelic... It is not a crime to speak Welsh in Wales, or to speak

:39:42. > :39:47.Gaelic in Scotland. I would like to remind the House that 100 years ago,

:39:48. > :39:51.the Irish language revival in my county, the proud county of Antrim,

:39:52. > :39:59.was led by unionists. Not by nationalists. And it's disastrous to

:40:00. > :40:05.hand the ownership of the Irish language exclusively to Sinn Fein. I

:40:06. > :40:10.will never agree to that and I will never concur with it in whatever

:40:11. > :40:12.shape or form it might be. The Irish language is the possession of no

:40:13. > :40:28.political party or group. The member has requested support for

:40:29. > :40:34.victims of the IRA. I could not agree with him or. I had many

:40:35. > :40:36.friends murdered by the IRA and I am very willing to put on record my

:40:37. > :40:44.support for any campaign for justice and honesty and openness, for all

:40:45. > :40:47.victims and survivors, regardless of who they are all what their

:40:48. > :40:50.aspiration might be politically. And that includes every single victim.

:40:51. > :40:56.On the general point that has been made, we must solve the legacy

:40:57. > :41:01.issues. Others have gone into the detail of legacy issues. We must get

:41:02. > :41:05.a solution to the legacy issues. Secretary of State, I would beg the

:41:06. > :41:10.Secretary of State to push on with that until we get a solution as Emma

:41:11. > :41:16.it is something which will fuel instability and this content going

:41:17. > :41:22.forward. Madame Deputy Speaker, all I want to do in the remaining few

:41:23. > :41:26.seconds or minutes is to wish the Secretary of State every success in

:41:27. > :41:32.his efforts to get devolution re-established. It is the best deal

:41:33. > :41:38.for Northern Ireland and I genuinely hope that the bill today for 108

:41:39. > :41:43.days will allow the space to bring about success in restoring the

:41:44. > :41:47.institutions. I would hope that striking a temporary deal will help

:41:48. > :41:52.restore a degree of financial stability. And I would urge the

:41:53. > :41:59.Secretary of State to pay particular attention, when it comes round to

:42:00. > :42:02.helping to allocate the billions, that the Brexit people promised us

:42:03. > :42:07.on the back of a Leave vote you remember that, 350-odd million a

:42:08. > :42:12.week? I would urge the Secretary of State to ensure that some of that

:42:13. > :42:18.money released goes towards creating a prosperity process, dealing with

:42:19. > :42:21.educational underachievement and dealing with strengthening the

:42:22. > :42:28.Health Service so it is able to cope with the demand in Northern Ireland.

:42:29. > :42:32.Thank you thank you, Madame Deputy Speaker. It gives me great pleasure

:42:33. > :42:39.to be asked to speak and to follow the honourable gentleman from South

:42:40. > :42:45.Belfast. In terms of this debate, I welcome the bill that has been put

:42:46. > :42:52.forward by the Secretary of State insofar as it goes. It's necessary

:42:53. > :43:00.but unfortunate. There is now a new deadline, but of course, a new

:43:01. > :43:06.deadline which was the same deadline for the first set of talks, so it is

:43:07. > :43:09.not really a deadline. I think the Secretary of State may find, if I

:43:10. > :43:14.can say this to him with the greatest respect, that's a bit more

:43:15. > :43:17.of a hard deadline, rather than a softer deadline, would actually

:43:18. > :43:22.produce more dividends in making it clear to some people in the talks

:43:23. > :43:25.process that actually, it's time to make your mind up and to make a

:43:26. > :43:31.choice as to whether or not they really want devolution or not. Can I

:43:32. > :43:36.also say, Madame Deputy Speaker, that having listened to the debate

:43:37. > :43:43.today, whatever our differences are on these benches, and there are

:43:44. > :43:46.three benches here of Northern Ireland MPs, and whatever our

:43:47. > :43:50.differences are, and it can get heated at times, and especially when

:43:51. > :43:57.people talk about historical events and all the rest of it, but the one

:43:58. > :44:02.thing that binds us in common is that we are here to represent the

:44:03. > :44:08.people who elect us, not just the people who voted for us but all the

:44:09. > :44:14.people in our constituencies. We all take our seats and we all speak up

:44:15. > :44:17.and stand up for Northern Ireland. And whatever the differences may be

:44:18. > :44:22.between us, that is something that we have in common, and when I hear

:44:23. > :44:25.some of the eulogies that have been passed in recent days to the former

:44:26. > :44:32.Deputy First Minister for instance, which passed away, it needs to be

:44:33. > :44:38.borne in mind that when some people said, you know, he went down a

:44:39. > :44:41.certain path because he had no choice, that there were people also

:44:42. > :44:44.growing up in places like Londonderry and Belfast at the same

:44:45. > :44:51.time, people like John Hume who did not take up an Armalite or a bomb

:44:52. > :44:55.and they could say they were from the same background, but they chose

:44:56. > :44:59.a democratic path. They chose a different path in terms of their

:45:00. > :45:02.politics and outlook from me and our colleagues, but it was a democratic

:45:03. > :45:13.path, and they deserve praise and honour for that. And sometimes it is

:45:14. > :45:16.easily forgotten. Madame Deputy Speaker, we have been here before in

:45:17. > :45:22.terms of emergency legislation. Not so long ago we had the emergency

:45:23. > :45:26.legislation to get the issue of welfare reform sorted out in

:45:27. > :45:29.Northern Ireland. Another crisis, which led to intensive talks and

:45:30. > :45:34.agreements. Another crisis brought about because, within the Northern

:45:35. > :45:41.Ireland Assembly, some people didn't, for whatever reason, want to

:45:42. > :45:46.take the decision to implement welfare changes which were