Northern ireland After the 42 Day Vote
19 June 2008
Now that the dust has settled, the disappointment of the Conservative Party at losing the vote on 42 Days detention, clearly evident in the Commons that night, has still not gone away. In the weeks leading up to the vote we had had discussions with all parties and were convinced that we had made a compelling case on the facts before us. The Home Secretary admitted that there has not been one case where the police have needed longer than 28 days to question a suspect pre-charge. We believe that other measures, such as giving the police power to question terror suspects after they have been charged and allowing the use of intercept evidence to be admissible in court, would greatly enhance our ability to successfully prosecute suspected terrorists. We need absolutely no lessons on being tough on terrorism. As David Cameron reminded Gordon Brown last week, the Conservative Party lost two MPs to terrorists. A Conservative Prime Minister was nearly killed by terrorists and dozens of Members of Parliament have served in the armed forces, many of them in Northern Ireland. I am fully aware that many Northern Ireland MPs and MLAs lived under real threat from terrorism and lost family members. However, we know that internment was a tremendous recruiter for extremists. We have very real fears that this could happen again; one community will feel that it is being targeted by an intolerant state. As David Davis said “You don’t need to be dumb on terrorism.” There has been much press speculation about negotiations between the Labour Government and the DUP. Any deals which have been mooted such as places on the Intelligence Committee, special arrangements for water charges or sales of MOD land will all emerge eventually. I have visited Omagh several times and local plans to relocate several schools on one site are tremendous. However, I have the Royal Irish Regiment stationed at Tern Hill in my constituency. The accommodation of these brave Irish soldiers is poor. Liam Fox has been emphatic that all funds from the sale of military sites must go to the MOD. However, it is not good for Northern Ireland in the long term that crises at Westminster should be exploited for relatively short term gain. Everyone in Northern Ireland is aware that last week’s vote propped up an incompetent, dithering Prime Minister who clearly has no solution to the long term problems facing the United Kingdom. Why should Northern Irish people have to watch while their politicians try to sell their votes for transitory influence? People in Northern Ireland should be part of mainstream UK politics, playing an active part in national parties. On my weekly visits to Northern Ireland people express emphatic views on national issues: the price of fuel, 10p tax row, business taxes, interest rates. The current political system keeps them locked in the old style politics. Recent polling by YouGov shows that 54% would welcome more representation by UK wide political parties, 53% would prefer to see a Conservative Government led by David Cameron and only 27% favour a Brown Labour Government. 45% would be Very Likely or Likely to vote Conservative at the next general election if given the opportunity. After the trauma of the past 30 years, the constitutional arrangements of Northern Ireland are thankfully settled. Now is the time for Northern Ireland to move back into the mainstream of national politics.
Belafst Telegraph 19.6.08
