§ 3.45 p.m.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Elton)My Lords, with the leave of the House, I shall now repeat a Statement being made in another place by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The Statement reads as follows:
§ "I will, with permission, Mr. Speaker, make a statement on the latest developments in the protests by Republican prisoners in Northern Ireland prisons.
§ "On 1st March one of the prisoners at Maze refused food and declared himself to be on hunger strike. A statement attributed to the prisoners said that this action was being taken, once again, in support of their demand for political status.
§ "Yesterday, the Republican prisoners still taking part in the dirty protest at Maze and Armagh prisons—439 in all—let it be known that they intended to stop fouling their cells. Two hundred and forty men prisoners have, accordingly, already been moved into clean cells and provided with clean bedding. The rest will be moved as quickly as further cells become available. The 28 women prisoners will all be in clean cells by this evening.
§ "The Government welcome this decision by the prisoners to put an end to the degrading conditions which they have imposed upon themselves. But, in another statement, the prisoners have indicated that their action is being taken in support of demands for changes in the prison regime which would give effect to their demand for political status. In this they differ from those 80 prisoners who have stopped protesting altogether since the last hunger strike ended on 18th December. That group are now receiving the full range of privileges and facilities which I described in my Statement of 4th December, including that of association, and of wearing their own leisure clothing of an approved type, in the evening and at weekends. That régime remains available for all who choose to take advantage of it: nothing has been added to and nothing taken away from my Statement of 4th December.
§ "The claim for political status has been rejected in clear terms by the European Commission of Human Rights, by successive Governments and by all sides in this House. I wish to make it clear, once again, in case there is any doubt anywhere about the Government's position, that we shall not give way on the issue of political status under pressure of further protest action, whatever form this takes and whether it is inside or outside the prisons."
§ My Lords, that concludes the Statement.
§ Lord BleaseMy Lords, I wish to thank the noble Lord for repeating the Statement. I feel sure that the House will join in welcoming the ending of this form of political protest. Whatever may be the declared reasons or the underlying objectives for calling off 1335 the dirty protest, many will agree that the decision may help to ease tensions in Northern Ireland. I am sure that we would all wish to welcome and support the responsible and thoughtful statement made on Sunday last by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Derry, Dr. Edward Daly. He urged people not to support the hunger strike and called upon young people in Northern Ireland to shun all those who perpetrate violence by deed and by tongue. Whatever may be the reasons for the decision of Mr. Bobby Sands—the Maze prisoner—to fast unto death, I would join with all those who have urged that he and others may earnestly heed the words of Bishop Daly and find a better way to seek to achieve happiness and prosperity for the people of Ulster and Ireland.
May I ask the Minister whether it is a fact that knowledgeable observers—persons of international repute—who visited the Maze, have declared that the Maze prison accommodation and the prison régime there are most humane prison conditions in the United Kingdom, if not in Europe? From this side of the House, I think that we must all realise—those in prison and those outside—that there can be no going back to political status. For those reasons we support the Government and the Secretary of State on the course that they have taken to deal with the current H block issues.
§ Lord HamptonMy Lords, I, too, should like to thank the noble Lord the Minister for repeating this Statement. It is, of course, good to hear that 439 people are giving up the dirty protest. At the same time it is serious that one man has declared himself to be on hunger strike. I think that it is part of the attitude in Northern Ireland of treating life cheaply, whether it is one's own or that of other people. I just hope that he can be deterred. I should like to ask the noble Lord the Minister just one question, to which I am sure he can give me a satisfactory answer. It has been said by some prisoners that the Government have gone back on terms that they have agreed in past cases. If the noble Lord can deny that, I shall be very happy to hear it. Apart from that, from these Benches I can only add that we wholeheartedly support the Government in resisting this demand for political status.
§ Lord EltonMy Lords, I am most grateful for the support that has been given to Her Majesty's Government at the present juncture both by the noble Lord, Lord Blease, and by the noble Lord, Lord Hampton, on behalf of both their parties. I can, indeed, endorse that the standard of accommodation at the Maze Prison is exceedingly high and many noble Lords will, in fact, have been able to see this for themselves from watching a television programme shown not so many months ago. Noble Lords will be aware that this protest is not in fact about prison conditions at all. It is about the status of prisoners, and a particular status is required for people who have gone in for crimes of violence and murder. It is not the business of Her Majesty's Government to lend respectability by any means to those who kill Her Majesty's subjects.
Therefore, I very much welcome the support of noble Lords opposite from both parties. I should also like to confirm what I stated when I repeated the 1336 Statement of my right honourable friend which has been made in another place, that nothing has been added to and nothing has been taken away from the Statement of 4th December. I repeated that Statement at great length in this House, and noble Lords who wish to know its content may find it on the record. I think that I have the sympathy of the House in saying that we are united in our determination not to give respectability by status to those who kill Her Majesty's subjects.