HC Deb 09 April 1981 vol 2 cc1104-5
Mr. J. Enoch Powell

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland why he authorised his Department to disclose now his intention to recommence talks on devolution in the summer.

Mr. Humphrey Atkins

No such sequence of events took place. However, I am happy to confirm that I remain ready to talk about political development in Northern Ireland as soon as the time is right.

Mr. Powell

Will the right hon. Gentleman keep a closer watch on certain officials in his Department who make it their business to communicate to the media indications of intentions and policies which are not necessarily his or the Government's? In that connection, will he keep a special eye on Mr. Christopher Thomas, whom those of us who are in the game have come to know as the "enemy wireless"?

Mr. Atkins

I do not think that the right hon. Gentleman listened to my answer, or perhaps I did not speak loudly enough. He asked me why I authorised my Department to disclose something, and I said that no such sequence of events took place. It did not take place.

Mr. Kilfedder

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Ulster people are anxious to have a Select Committee that would sit at Stormont in Northern Ireland and debate matters such as unemployment, housing and health? Will the right hon. Gentleman agree to the establishment of such a Select Committee?

Mr. Atkins

The hon. Gentleman is in a slight state of confusion. Select Committees do not debate such matters. They inquire. If he is talking about a Northern Ireland Committee, that already exists.

Mr. Fitt

Will the Secretary of State confirm that it is still his intention and No. 1 priority to bring together the parties in Northern Ireland with the intention of creating a power-sharing executive, as we have had in the past?

Mr. Atkins

I have made it clear on many occasions that the Government seek a way forward that will be acceptable across both communities in Northern Ireland. As the hon. Gentleman knows, one of our difficulties last year was that, while he and his friends were insisting on power-sharing, that was not acceptable to the other section of the community. We still seek a way forward that is acceptable across the community.