PRIME MINISTER OF NORTHERN IRELAND (MEETING) (Hansard, 18 November 1969)

§ Q3. Mr. Arthur Davidson
asked the Prime Minister whether he will arrange a further meeting with the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

§ The Prime Minister
I met the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland yesterday and we had a brief discussion of the progress made since our meeting on 19th August.

§ Mr. Davidson
Does not my right hon. Friend agree that the most important thing of all is for the Northern Ireland Prime Minister to convince moderate opinion in all sections of the community in Northern Ireland, and particularly among the Roman Catholic minority, that he and the Northern Ireland Government have the ability and the intention to carry out the necessary reforms and to end discrimination? Is he satisfied from his talks with Major Chichester-Clark that there is some confidence that this will happen?

§ The Prime Minister
Yes, Sir. As to ability and intention, I have very great confidence in what is understood in Northern Ireland and in what is happening. The problem that faces the Northern Ireland Prime Minister, and indeed the problem that faced his predecessor, is a backlog of nearly 50 years in which almost nothing was done. I am glad to feel that as a result of our pressure, long before the troubles this August, considerable progress was made both by the Government headed by Captain O'Neill and by the Government 1113 headed by Major Chichester-Clark. But there is a long history of fear, anxiety and failure to deal with the problems in time. I feel that the present Northern Ireland Government, like their predecessor, have a sense of urgency about these questions.

§ Mr. Thorpe
The Prime Minister will be aware that a number of families in Northern Ireland have been burned out of their homes and have had all their possessions destroyed, and that many are living in emergency shelter and in caravans. Did he discuss with the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland whether adequate compensation would be paid to help these people to start a new life, and did he indicate whether Her Majesty's Government would be prepared to help financially if the Northern Ireland Government felt that this was outside their own financial possibilities?

§ The Prime Minister
No, Sir, that was not discussed with the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland last night, in a talk lasting rather less than an hour. These are matters to be taken up between my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and the Government of Northern Ireland, and there are almost continuous relations with them. There are a number of family problems. It is too early to say anything, except to underline the urgency of the problem facing those burnt o at of their homes, or those who were forced out by various forms of eviction and threats and blackmail. This is an urgent problem, but I do not think I have anything to say today about how it should be dealt with.

§ Mr. Michael Foot
Did the Prime Minister take the opportunity yesterday to emphasise to the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland that any proposals for the establishment of an Ulster Defence Regiment could not be considered fixed or final in any way until they had been subjected to detailed scrutiny, and possible amendment in this House, which is the procedure in Parliament on this side of the Irish Sea?

§ The Prime Minister
The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland has been getting through his Parliament some much a more difficult legislation than the particular Bill to which my hon. Friend refers. He will be more aware than most parlia- 1114 mentarians that nothing requiring legislation takes effect until that legislation is complete, its having gone through Committee stage, Report stage and all the other stages in which Amendments can be put down. That is our position on the Ulster Defence Force.
On the other hand, if my hon. Friend is referring, as he may be, to the fact that some time was spent on Ulster commercial television dealing with these matters, I should have thought that there is nothing improper in that. A White Paper has been laid before the House of Commons and it is fair, particularly at a time when misunderstanding of the White Paper might cause a reversion to communal strife, that this matter should be properly explained in the terms of the White Paper. But this Parliament is sovereign in terms of legislation that finally becomes law. Nobody is in any doubt at all about that.