HC Deb 25 January 1996 vol 270 c381W
12. Mr. Fabricant

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the current positions taken by paramilitary organisations in Ulster on the surrender of weapons. [9637]

Sir Patrick Mayhew

The international body concluded that the paramilitaries will not decommission any arms prior to all-party negotiaions. We see no sufficient reason why they should not begin. But no one should be allowed to block the path of peace. That is why we hope that an elective process may now be considered by the parties which, together with the recommendations the body has made, may well offer an alternative means to generating the necessary confidence which the body found to be lacking.