Downing Street Says » Northern Ireland

Asked if the Prime Minister was involved with the "On the Runs" legislation and whether the RUC widow meeting had been the decisive factor in persuading us to drop the bill, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that in terms of the Prime Minister’s involvement, of course he was involved in the decision. With regards to the RUC Widows meeting, the Prime Minister explained at the time of the meeting that he was fully aware of their views and the pain that was caused not just to them, but also to other victims of the IRA by going through the legislation.

Firstly, however, there was the anomaly of the position of prisoners who had been dealt with after the Good Friday Agreement, and those who were wanted, but had not served time. Secondly, there had been commitments made as part of the negotiations. However, given that Sinn Fein had dropped its support for legislation, and said that it would not support anyone going through the system, it clearly became pointless to have a system that nobody was going to use. Also, to go through the pain of putting through legislation which was going to cause offence to many people if nobody was going to use the system was also pointless. In short, the Government was prepared to put the legislation through, but there was no point in keeping going if nobody was going to use it at this stage.

Asked if we expected it to come back in the Autumn, the PMOS said he did not expect this legislation to come back, per se, but rather, the issue in some way was going to have to be dealt with because that anomaly was there, and it would manifest itself in different ways at different times. It would be dealt with at some stage, but it was not an immediate priority. As Peter Hain said, the immediate priorities were to make progress following the IMC report on the issue of devolution, and on getting unambiguous support for policing.

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‘Also, to go through the pain of putting through legislation which was going to cause offence to many people if nobody was going to use the system was also pointless. In short, the Government was prepared to put the legislation through, but there was no point in keeping going if nobody was going to use it at this stage’

Well, this is excellent stuff. According to the PMOS, the criterion for new legislation is: If it causes offence to many people or no one is going to use it (at this stage) then we won’t introduce it.

Where do we start with listing any legislation introduced over, let’s say, the last five years that has met this new standard?
Comment by Chuck Unsworth — 12 Jan 2006 on 12:15 pm | Link

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» Thursday, January 12, 2006

Northern Ireland

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