HC Deb 12 February 1981 vol 998 cc976-8
7. Mr. Stephen Ross

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about the continuing unrest in Maze prison.

16. Mr. Stanbrook

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the prisoners who are refusing to comply with prison rules at Maze prison.

The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr. Michael Alison)

The dirty protest in support of the campaign for political status is continuing. There are at present 405 prisoners involved, 61 fewer than when the Maze hunger strike ended on 18 December and 100 fewer than the peak number reached early in the hunger strike.

As my right hon. Friend has already told the House, we had hoped that the ending of the hunger strikes would be followed by the ending of all the protests in the prisons. However, the process of return to normality broke down on 27 January, when 96 prisoners who were in clean, furnished cells started to damage the cells and to break up the furniture. It had become clear the previous weekend that the prisoners were seeking a regime that was different from the normal regime which my right hon. Friend described in his statement of 4 December.

On 5 February there was an announcement, said to be on behalf of the protesting prisoners, that a further hunger strike would begin on 1 March, in support of their claim to be treated as political prisoners.

I very much regret that the prisoners appear to have decided to resort to this kind of action a second time. The Government have declared the principles by which they are guided. It is these principles that the prisoners are once again challenging. We have shown once that we shall not compromise on them, and shall, if we must, do so again. I find it difficult to believe that the prisoners do not understand this.

Mr. Ross

Will the Minister accept that I congratulate the Northern Ireland Office on the promptness of its publicity in response to claims emanating from the Maze prison? Last week I was in the United States of America and I found that to be the case. Does anyone who holds a responsible opinion, particularly in the Catholic Church, support the prisoners' contention that they were tricked into a settlement when they called off the hunger strike in late December?

Mr. Allison

I know of no individual who has made any such claim. I have never heard such a claim articulated in any rational or meaningful form

Mr. Stanbrook

Will my hon. Friend resist any temptation to make any progressive and humane reforms in the prison administration of Northern Ireland until the present indiscipline has come to an end?

Mr. Alison

No. The Government will not be influenced against pursuing rational and proper courses by the illegal activities of prisoners.

Mr. J. Enoch Powell

How can the Government hope for a return to normality in the Maze prison, when they continue to accord special category status to several hundred prisoners in defiance of their own principle that such status is unjustified and unacceptable?

Mr. Alison

In principle, special category status was abolished five years ago. The Government have accelerated the practice of phasing it out. That demonstrates clearly the Government's rejection of the concept of special category status. As long ago as 1975 a previous Secretary of State established the practice of leaving sentenced prisoners to serve out their time in the conditions under which they had embarked on them. A retrospective alteration of those terms gives rise to far wider considerations, as my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister indicated to the right hon. Gentleman in her reply to him on 15 February.

Mr. Biggs-Davison

Will my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State accept my assurance that he will receive the same firm support from this House that he enjoyed before, and that we very much welcome his constant stand? Should not my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State consult his right hon. Friend the Home Secretary so that prison reforms in every part of the United Kingdom can march together?

Mr. Alison

I am much obliged to my hon. Friend for his assurance—which I am sure is valid—that the House completely supports the maintenance of the rule of law and the authority of the lawfully elected Government in the face of violence. As regards my hon. Friend's second question, there is a special situation in Northern Ireland because many young prisoners are serving very long sentences. To some extent, that distinguishes Northern Ireland from the rest of the British Isles.