Northern Ireland Assembly (Hansard, 21 July 1983)

7. Mr. Michael NcNair-Wilson
asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has any proposals to allow the transfer of a greater share of government to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

§ 11. Miss Maynard
asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he is satisfied with the way the new Assembly is working.

§ 15. Sir John Biggs-Davison
asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is his policy towards the future of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

§ Mr. Prior
The people of Northern Ireland will continue to be offered, through the Assembly and the Northern Ireland Act 1982, a framework within which there can be agreement on devolution among representatives from both sides. It is for the Assembly to put forward devolution proposals. The Government's view is that stable political arrangements can come about only through arrangements that enjoy substantial support from both sides of the community. Until such agreement is possible, the Assembly will continue to have the functions, which it has already set about with vigour, of considering proposals for draft legislation and scrutinising the activities of the Northern Ireland Departments.

Mr. McNair-Wilson
Is not my right hon. Friend in danger of sacrificing the future effectiveness of the Assembly on the altar of SDLP intransigence? Should he not reconsider the 70 per cent. provision and see whether there is some other way to sound out the majority view in Northern Ireland about the way in which the Assembly might progress in the future?

§ Mr. Prior
No. The key issue is not the SDLP but the fact that any arrangement to devolve power to a Northern Ireland Assembly would simply not work unless it had widespread acceptance throughout the community. Moreover, I do not believe that bringing orders before this House which did not have that widespread accceptance would gain acceptance here.

§ Miss Maynard
Does the Secretary of State agree that it is time we stopped treating Northern Ireland as a colony? Should we not withdraw the Unionist veto, so that we can get down to discussing the politics of the situation and how to bring about a united Ireland? Does he agree that until that is done the killing, the violence and the whole hellish situation will continue?

§ Mr. Prior
I must tell the hon. Lady and those who might support her that the one certain way to increase the violence and lead to civil war in Northern Ireland would be to try to make the majority in Northern Ireland act in opposition to their own views. Therefore, we must seek agreement peacefully. It is no good saying that a united Ireland is the answer when we know perfectly well that that is unacceptable to the majority. We have to try to move forward rather more sensibly than that.

§ Sir John Biggs-Davison
Having regard both to the absence of the desired consensus on devolution and to the good work done by the Assembly Committees, is it not better to proceed with a single statute book and the development of Ulster Committees of this Parliament, which could sometimes meet at Stormont?

§ Mr. Prior
No, Sir. As my hon. Friend knows, we have discussed that at considerable length. I do not believe that the integration of Northern Ireland into the workings of the United Kingdom in the same way as county councils, for example, operate here would be acceptable or would work.

§ Mr. William Ross
As the right hon. Gentleman had such high hopes of the Assembly when he created it, is he not deeply disappointed that to date proposals for devolution have not been forthcoming from it?

§ Mr. Prior
No, I am not disappointed. I never thought that it could happen quickly. We always said that it would take some while for the Assembly to move on to the second stage. The hon. Gentleman and others do the Assembly no good, and fail to give it the recognition that it should have, by constantly carping because it has not yet moved to a further stage. I hope that it will do so, but I think that it will take time.