HC Deb 28 October 1998 vol 318 cc320-2
2. Mr. John Smith (Vale of Glamorgan)

Which parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly she has met to discuss the level of public support for the peace process; and if she will make a statement. [54762]

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Marjorie Mowlam)

My ministerial colleagues and I have met all the political parties represented in the Assembly several times, and I met most of the parties yesterday to discuss support for the Good Friday agreement and how we can maintain momentum.

Mr. Smith

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend. Will she join me in congratulating the right hon. Member for Upper Bann (Mr. Trimble) and the hon. Member for Foyle (Mr. Hume) on winning the Nobel peace prize? The prize confers great honour on the House, and every hon. Member should recognise that. Will my right hon. Friend tell us what hopes she has for the initiative taken by the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister to find a consensus among all the parties in Northern Ireland on progress towards the next stage of implementation of the Good Friday agreement?

Marjorie Mowlam

I thank my hon. Friend for that question and join him in congratulating the right hon. Member for Upper Bann (Mr. Trimble) and the hon. Member for Foyle (Mr. Hume) on their tremendous achievement. They both deserve it royally. The initiative mentioned was launched on Monday and I understand that it will commence tomorrow with discussions with all the parties in an attempt to resolve a number of outstanding issues under the Good Friday agreement. I wish them every success in that effort. It is important that they are dealing with the issues between the parties on the ground and discussing them themselves. I wish them luck.

Mr. David Trimble (Upper Bann)

May I refer the Secretary of State to ceasefires by paramilitary organisations? I am sure that she wants to ensure that the Government operate even-handedly. In particular, I refer her to the ceasefire by the Loyalist Volunteer Force, which has held for several months and appears to be just as genuine as any other paramilitary ceasefire. What is the attitude of the Northern Ireland Office to that ceasefire? Has she received recently any fresh assessment from any element in the security forces with regard to it?

Marjorie Mowlam

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that question. I assure him that I want to act even-handedly with all groups associated with trying to find a ceasefire. He particularly referred to the LVF. I have said before that I will keep the situation under constant review, and I have. I have received a recent report from the security forces which I am reviewing. I have said that I will make a judgment in the following weeks on whether I think that the situation needs to be reviewed. It is a serious, difficult issue and I assure the right hon. Gentleman that I am not dragging my feet.

Mr. Eddie McGrady (South Down)

We in the Northern Ireland community greatly rejoiced at the award of the Nobel peace prize to my party leader and the leader of the Ulster Unionist party. We have made our exaltation known to them personally already. The Secretary of State will share my disappointment that this phase of the Belfast agreement is not likely to be implemented by 31 October. Does she agree that the immediate cause of the impasse is the failure to agree on the departmental structures of the north of Ireland and on the implementing bodies north and south? While both communities desire at least token decommissioning of weapons by both republican and loyalist paramilitaries, that thorny and emotive problem was handed by the agreement to an international, independent decommissioning body.

Marjorie Mowlam

It is important to have deadlines to focus people. I hope that we continue to work to 31 October even though it is close and it may be difficult to get there. That does not mean that we should not try. Several issues are creating difficulties: decommissioning and the Executive body. Then there is the progress that I hope that the parties will make with the work done by the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister and the parties tomorrow. It is important that progress is made in parallel on all aspects of the agreement so that confidence can be built and we can get more momentum back in the process.

Mr. Lembit Öpik (Montgomeryshire)

What would the Secretary of State regard as satisfactory and significant progress by the 31 October deadline, given that the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister have been working hard over the summer, especially in the past few weeks, to make the progress that we need for a lasting settlement?

Marjorie Mowlam

It is difficult for me to set an absolute baseline. Obviously, we want as much progress as possible, but what is happening more and more—and this is what is important—is that it is the parties, their leaders, the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister who are trying to take the process forward. Of course, the Government will do all that we can in terms of pace, help and encouragement—as, I am sure, will the Irish Government—to help make progress.

Deadlines are important. We have missed them before. We missed the one for the Good Friday agreement by a number of days, but everybody managed to live with that and make progress afterwards. We are still working at it.

Mr. Andrew MacKay (Bracknell)

Will the Secretary of State accept that all reasonable people would expect there to be no further early releases of terrorist prisoners until there is substantial and verifiable decommissioning of all illegally held weapons and explosives?

Marjorie Mowlam

I appreciate the support of the right hon. Gentleman and his party for the Good Friday agreement. I look forward to that support extending to its contents. As the right hon. Gentleman knows, neither he nor I—no one—can renegotiate the Good Friday agreement. It is there and it says that there must be progress in parallel on all the different dimensions. It also says that if progress is not being made on different dimensions, it can be reviewed. I have not forgotten that. This is not about grabbing headlines. This is about the work taking place on the ground by the parties trying to make progress. We should give them the support, encouragement and space necessary to do that.

Mr. MacKay

Will the Secretary of State accept that, from the Dispatch Box, her Prime Minister made it clear that decommissioning was part of the agreement and part of the renunciation of violence? We have now had over six months and not one single gun or one ounce of Semtex has been handed in. Over the same time, over 150 hardened terrorist prisoners have been released early. That is not parallel.

Marjorie Mowlam

I have made clear to the right hon. Gentleman on other occasions the words of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and I shall repeat them. He said that decommissioning is crucial, that it is a central part of the agreement and that we want all dimensions to move in parallel. If there is no progress, we will review it. I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman will acknowledge that the previous Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Major), gave a commitment that we would support the parties, the people and the Parliament when they made a decision. That is what we intend to do.