§ 7. Lady Hermon (North Down)If he will make a statement on progress on a future Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. [101445]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Desmond Browne)As set out in the Belfast agreement and the Northern Ireland Act, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is undertaking work with a view to making recommendations to the Government on the scope for a Bill of Rights in Northern Ireland. At this stage, the Government's position is only to encourage broad participation in the process. To that end, I welcome the engagement of the Northern Ireland political parties in response to the request of the chief commissioner and would urge those who have not yet done so to become actively involved.
§ Lady HermonI appreciate the Minister's response, but may I encourage him to go further and tell the House whether the Government intend to include the controversial issue of Drumcree and other parades in Northern Ireland in any future Bill of Rights?
§ Mr. BrowneIt would be entirely inappropriate for the Government to anticipate the advice that we will be given by the Human Rights Commission, but the hon. Lady can rest assured that the Government's position is that all issues of relevance to the people of Northern Ireland that could be broadly covered by the description of being within the scope of a Bill of Rights, taking into account the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland, are issues that ought to be discussed in the context of the process.