§ 3. Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)How many (a) punishment beatings and (b) expulsions were administered by terrorist organisations in Northern Ireland in 2003; and if he will make a statement. [146808]
§ The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Jane Kennedy)In 2003 there were 302 paramilitary-style attacks, including 148 shootings and 154 assaults. Definitive figures on those forced to leave Northern Ireland through intimidation are not available. The House will be dismayed to learn that on Friday a 14-year-old boy was abducted from the Ardoyne area and held for five hours by, we believe, the Irish National Liberation Army. After being shot and savagely beaten, he was dumped away from his home and left in the dark. That is, I am sure, unequivocally condemned in all parts of the House.
§ Michael FabricantI am grateful to the Minister for her answer. She is right, of course—the whole House will join her in condemning the actions she just described, and all the other punishment beatings and expulsions, the numbers of which she gave in her answer. May I draw her back to the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Cotswold (Mr. Clifton-Brown)? He reiterated the point made by the Prime Minister when he promised in the Belfast News Letter:
Representatives of parties intimately linked to paramilitary groups can only be in a future Northern Ireland Government if it is clear that there will be no more violence".When will the Minister and the Secretary of State tell Sinn Fein-IRA that as long as the punishment beatings that the right hon. Lady described so vividly continue, there is no chance of their being a part of a future Northern Ireland Government?
§ Jane KennedyAs the hon. Gentleman said, we utterly deplore and condemn such vicious attacks, which in many cases leave the victims permanently physically and mentally scarred. The police actively investigate every incident in an effort to bring those responsible to justice. The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point, but all paramilitary groups must make a commitment to exclusively peaceful means that is—he is right—real, total and permanent. That is not merely a statement or a declaration of words. It means giving up all forms of violence completely.
§ Mr. Eddie McGrady (South Down) (SDLP)In view of the horrendous statistics given by the Minister, does she agree that except where shootings are involved, many such incidents go unreported, and that the paramilitary organisations are extending their protection, extortion and drugs activities? They are now controlling house sales and lettings in certain areas, and business sales and lettings in certain areas. They are as much a fascist regime as I have ever known. Will my right hon. Friend give an undertaking that those perhaps less dramatic activities, which nevertheless have a far greater impact on our communities, will be referred to the Independent Monitoring Commission and acted upon just as much as bombings and shootings are acted upon, or will the Government continue politically to ignore them, as they have done to date?
§ Jane KennedyI do not accept that we have ignored such activity, but I do agree with the majority of what my hon. Friend has said. Such actions are outlawed by the Belfast agreement and they have no place in a civilised society. The terrorists—that is what they are—who carry out such barbaric attacks are exactly the same people, as my hon. Friend says, who seek to control their own neighbourhoods and do so by terrorising their own people. I undertake to look into the suggestion that he has made. It is true that the work of the Independent Monitoring Commission will involve this specific area of activity, as well as others.
§ Mr. Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)Given the significant increase in the number of beatings and expulsions and in racketeering in Northern Ireland during the past five years, when will the Assets Recovery Agency begin the good work that it has done against loyalist racketeering against the Provisional IRA?
§ Jane KennedyThe hon. Gentleman may know that the Assets Recovery Agency is looking at a wide range of cases from all sections of the community and it will continue the good work that it has already begun. It has begun well and I intend to give it every assistance to continue the good work that it has started.
§ Mr. Khalid Mahmood (Birmingham, Perry Barr) (Lab)I applaud the Government and all politicians who have consistently condemned the acts of sectarian intimidation and violence, but does the Minister agree that the time has now come to implement the proposals resulting from the consultation on race and sectarian crime legislation in Northern Ireland?
§ Jane KennedyI agree with my hon. Friend and a draft proposal for legislation to address the problem will be published within a very few weeks.