§ 6.40 p.m.
§ The PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE, NORTHERN IRELAND OFFICE (Lord Donaldson of Kingsbridge)My Lords, earlier today there was some discussion about a Statement which my right honourable friend the Secretary of State had said he would 89 be making about Northern Ireland, and there was a feeling in this House that it should be made here first. My noble friend the Leader of the House has decided that this is correct, so I am making it now and it has not yet been made anywhere else. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State said this in his Statement:
The Daily Telegraph today carries an article which alleges …"—
§ Lord DRUMALBYNMy Lords, the noble Lord is making this Statement. Might I ask whether the noble Lord the Leader of the Opposition has been supplied with a copy of it in advance?
§ Lord DONALDSON of KINGS-BRIDGEYes, my Lords. The Statement is as follows:
§ "The Daily Telegraph today carries an article which alleges that a document containing a list of 12 points of a 'peace deal' with the Provisionals was found when David O'Connell was arrested in Dublin.
§ "The Irish Government have already said that the story that such a document is in the hands of authorities there is completely false and utterly without foundation and that no such document was found.
§ "The existence of various documents purporting to belong to the Provisionals has been public knowledge since early this year. For example, one alleged document was extensively covered in a report in The Times on 11th February 1975.
§ "The Government have been fully aware since before the renewed IRA ceasefire of the existence of 12 points and indeed of other points made by individuals and organisations claiming to represent the views of the Provisional IRA.
§ "The Government's attitude towards such points has been fully covered by Statements made by the Secretary of State in the House of Commons from 14th January 1975 onwards.
§ "In particular it has been made clear that the future of Northern Ireland is a matter for the people of Northern Ireland and there is no question of bartering it away; that the action of the Security Forces will be related to the level of activity that 90 might occur; that a cessation of violence would bring its own results; that if there is a genuine, sustained cessation of violence there will then be a progressive reduction of Army numbers, an end to detention which is now governed by the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) (Amendment) Act 1975, and to screening, photographing and identity checks; but that anyone involved in acts of violence will be prosecuted in the Courts. For the cessation of violence to be genuine there must be an end to bombings, murders and kneecappings, to kangaroo courts, to armed robberies and hi-jackings.
§ "There is no immunity from arrest for anyone against whom there is evidence of involvement in criminal activities and who can be brought before the Courts. It is an offence in Northern Ireland to carry a gun unless a licence has been issued by the RUC. There has never been any deal to release 100 or any other number of detainees. The position about incident centres was fully set out in the House of Commons on 11th February 1975. The Government have at no time contributed financially to those centres run by Provisional Sinn Fein.
§ "The Government's policy has been fully set out in the House of Commons. This will continue to be the case. It has not been, and will not be, influenced by threats, distortions or lies."
§ That is the end of the Statement.
§ Lord BELSTEADMy Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for agreeing to the wishes of the House and for making that Statement, which is on a very serious subject. But, rather less seriously, I think that the summer holidays may have rather overcome the arrangements of the House, because certainly I have not seen a copy of the Statement, nor did I realise that it was about to be made. Therefore, I hope the noble Lord will acquit me of any discourtesy in coming in late after he had begun to speak.
The only sentence which I can pick out from the Statement, which has just been thrust into my hand, is that the Government's attitude towards the points which 91 were in the newspapers has been fully covered by Statements made by the Secretary of State in another place from 14th January 1975 onwards. If that is the case—and of course I accept that it is—then I think this will cover the point perfectly. But the next 72 hours or so will give time for those of your Lordships who are interested to study the Statement which the noble Lord has just given to us and if necessary we can return to this subject, along with others, when my noble friend Lord Brooke borough puts his Unstarred Question on Thursday evening.
§ Lord BYERSMy Lords, I should have liked to comment on this Statement but I had no notice at all that it was to be made, or that the House was to be resumed. On these Benches, we have not even received a copy of the Statement. It makes things extremely difficult because I was not here when the Minister rose to speak. So I hope that in future we can have a copy of such Statements a few minutes ahead of time.
§ Lord LEATHERLANDMy Lords, as several very important Members of this House were not present when the Minister read the first sentence of this Statement, I wonder whether he could perhaps read that first sentence again?
§ Lord DONALDSON of KINGSBRIDGEMy Lords, I will read the first sentence again in a moment, but first may I say that I apologise for the rather scrambling arrangements. The position was that my Secretary of State regarded this as a personal defence against newspaper attacks. He gave an indication that he was going to make a Statement; he never thought it would be necessary to make it as a Government Statement through Parliament. It was only because your Lordships expressed a view, with which my noble friend the Leader of the House agreed, that this was done suddenly. The point is that my right honourable friend the Secretary of State wants his answer to the statement made in the Daily Telegraph to be out today. Therefore this Statement had to be made today—and today is now. That is the best apology I can give.
§ Lord BYERSWith due respect, my Lords, it would have been possible to do 92 what is so often done; namely, to put out on the annunciator the fact that a Statement was to be made in the House within the next 10 minutes. Then we would have been alerted.
§ Lord DONALDSON of KINGSBRIDGEMy Lords, I think I can only apologise for that. I will now repeat the first sentence:
§ "The Daily Telegraph today carries an article which alleges that a document containing a list of 12 points of a 'peace deal' with the Provisionals was found when David O'Connell was arrested in Dublin.
§ "The Irish Government have already said that the story that such a document is in the hands of authorities there is completely false and utterly without foundation and that no such document was found."