§ 2. Mr. William Ross (East Londonderry)How many weapons believed to be held by terrorist organisations have been recovered by the RUC and the Army in Northern Ireland this year. [129860]
§ The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Peter Mandelson)During the period 1 January to 30 June this year, the RUC and the Army recovered 64 firearms, 6,085 rounds of ammunition, 247.1 kg of explosives, 34 detonators and four launchers. It is not possible to attribute those finds to individual terrorist groupings.
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. I cannot hear Mr. Ross and I have the impression that the Secretary of State cannot either, because conversations in the Chamber are very noisy.
§ Mr. RossDoes the Secretary of State appreciate that we on these Benches agree entirely with the remarks by the right hon. Member for Bracknell (Mr. MacKay)? 362 Does he also appreciate that not a single round of ammunition or weapon that he has just detailed was given up voluntarily, but that they all had to be recovered from the terrorists, who were unwilling to give them up? Has the Secretary of State yet been able to determine whether the recent murders of Mr. Cairns and Mr. McCoy and the bomb set off in Stewartstown were carried out by dissident or mainstream terrorist organisations? If mainstream, would that not constitute a breaking of the ceasefire, or does that apply only to murders of members of the security forces?
§ Mr. MandelsonIf that is the case, the hon. Gentleman is right. Let me take the opportunity to make it absolutely clear that if I receive any assessment based on evidence collected by the RUC that any individual has been involved in perpetrating such offences, I shall expect swift action to be taken against that individual. If that has implications, through that individual's membership of a paramilitary organisation, for the maintenance of that organisation's ceasefire, I shall take them into account when considering further prisoner releases.
§ Mr. John McFall (Dumbarton)My right hon. Friend will be aware of yesterday's hugely successful reception held in the Palace by the RUC, which was attended by Sir Ronnie Flanagan himself. In the light of the passage of the Police (Northern Ireland) Bill, will he ensure that Catholic recruits are taken into the RUC and that we have representation at all senior levels in future? Will he state what discussions he is holding and what measures he is implementing to ensure that that becomes a reality?
§ Mr. MandelsonThe whole House will join my hon. Friend in applauding the performance of the RUC in the past couple of weeks. More generally, I believe that the police response to events surrounding Drumcree was measured and proportionate, but no less firm for all that, and that they acted entirely professionally. If we were not serious about creating a fresh start for policing, we would not be introducing a 50:50 selection procedure to achieve an intake to the new police service that is balanced between Protestants and Catholics. We shall operate that system not only for three years or 10 years, but for however long it takes to achieve the properly representative police service that Northern Ireland needs if its police service is to be even more effective in future.
§ Mr. Robert McCartney (North Down)With reference to the important issue raised by the hon. Member for South Down (Mr. McGrady) on the extension of mafia-like activities in drugs, extortion and other criminal acts, the Secretary of State has confirmed the widespread involvement of paramilitaries on both sides. Can he confirm that the paramilitaries involved are largely the good terrorists who support the peace process, not the wicked, dissident terrorists who are allegedly disrupting London?
§ Mr. MandelsonUnlike the hon. and learned Gentleman, I do not distinguish between good terrorists and bad terrorists. To me, all terrorists are bad and equally unacceptable. If there is any evidence that will bring them, individually or collectively, to book, it will be acted on decisively.
§ Mr. John M. Taylor (Solihull)In that spirit, while it is true that the IRA has opened some arms dumps to the 363 international inspectors, is it not regrettable that other paramilitaries have made no such progress? What pressure is the Secretary of State exerting on that point?
§ Mr. MandelsonIt is highly regrettable that the loyalist paramilitaries, who, in a sense, got off to a good start—better than that of the Provisional IRA—have now fallen behind on the efforts required to bring about a complete decommissioning of all weapons held by all paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland. Their own side of the community—the people for whom they purport to speak and represent—stand to gain just as much as anyone else from a peaceful, demilitarised society in which violence and terrorism have been put behind then once and for all. I hope that those organisations will begin to make their contribution to the complete decommissioning that the people of Northern Ireland expect and demand.