Northern Ireland Budget Bill — House of Commons, 2017-11-13
Topic: Mixed Topics
Jeffrey Mark Donaldson (Democratic Unionist Party, Right): I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Belfast South (Emma Little Pengelly) for setting out so clearly where we are. I shall not focus so much on the detail of the budget, but on the circumstances that have conspired to bring us to where we are this evening I must say to the Secretary of State that I have listened carefully to what he has said, and he is someone I admire, and his patience and resolve are undoubted, but it concerns me slightly, as a British Member of Parliament representing a British constituency in Northern Ireland, that some seem almost apologetic that this sovereign Parliament is taking decisions that affect the British citizens I represent in Northern Ireland. We should not apologise for that. It is through the fault of others who have negated their responsibility that we have been brought to this point I served in the Northern Ireland Assembly and in the Executive. The decision by the Democratic Unionist party, which I am proud to represent, to go into government with Sinn Féin was probably the most difficult political decision I have had to make in my political career. It was a challenging decision to go into government with a party that I knew had members who were responsible for the planning and perhaps even the carrying out of the murder of members of my family, people with whom I had served in the Ulster Defence Regiment, friends I had grown up with and neighbours. Yet I and others were willing to set that aside in the greater interests of Northern Ireland—for the next generation, the young people. We were prepared to set that aside and say, "We’ll give this a chance." I have watched Sinn Féin squander that chance. Yes, there are issues and difficulties that have led us to where we are now, but what are they when set alongside the history of Northern Ireland and its troubled past? We are now in a situation in which we in this House must take decisions that really should be taken by the devolved Assembly and Executive. I regret that. I am a devolutionist and believe that government is best served and delivered when it is close to the people, which is why I want to see Stormont functioning for my constituents of Lagan Valley. We cannot continue with this impasse indefinitely. We cannot continue with the situation in which that democracy and that government are not being delivered. They are not being delivered because one party—potentially a partner in the Government of Northern Ireland—refuses to deliver it, refuses to take up its responsibility, and refuses to sit down with the rest of us If Sinn Féin members find it difficult to sit down with my party, they need to understand that we find it difficult to sit down with them, but we are prepared to do so in the interests of the people whom we represent. In the decisions that we have taken in our confidence and supply agreement with the Conservative party, we have demonstrated time and again a willingness to act in the greater interest, to set aside partisan advantage and narrow issues and to act for the greater good We cannot go on indefinitely like this; we cannot go on indefinitely with Government Departments in Northern Ireland having no political direction. It is simply unfair on the senior civil servants in Northern Ireland. It is unfair on those Departments that they do not have that political direction. As my hon. Friend the Member for Belfast South has said, this is literally costing people their lives. Decisions are not being made on interventions that would help people in desperate need of healthcare, and yet those people are waiting, waiting and waiting. The political decisions that are required are not being made There is, I suspect, a reluctance on the part of the Secretary of State and his colleagues to go any further than we are going tonight on direct rule. He has been at pains to say that this is not the first step towards direct rule. I understand where he is coming from. I understand the reason for the reluctance, but I say to him that I know the psychology of Sinn Féin. When we say to its members, "Don’t worry, we are not pushing towards direct rule," does that encourage them to think, "Well, the Government aren’t going to take on their responsibility, so we will hang out a big longer, a bit longer and a bit longer"? Does it incentivise them to take on the responsibility that the people elected them to take on when we say, "Well, actually we are not moving towards direct rule." It is not that we want to move towards direct rule, but Sinn Féin must face up to the reality, and the reality is that we cannot continue in a vacuum It is wrong that a part of the United Kingdom tonight does not have the political direction that the people expect and require and that my constituents deserve every bit as much as those who are represented by the party of the Secretary of State. We cannot sustain this position indefinitely—or even in the short term. There are too many crucial decisions, and too many lives that depend on those decisions, not least those of the victims of historical institutional abuse Earlier, I mentioned the victims and survivors of our troubled past who have been waiting for years for the establishment of institutions that will examine that past in more detail and that will enable those victims and survivors to go some way towards getting to the truth and gaining access to justice. Is it not cruelly ironic that the victims of the IRA are being prevented from having access to justice by the political party that supported the violence of the IRA for years? Where else would such a situation be tolerated? It is unacceptable Efforts are being made, and we will continue those efforts on these Benches—the DUP will redouble its efforts —to get agreement, but the Secretary of State needs to publish the proposals on legacy. He needs to put down a marker and say, "We’re going to wait but we won’t wait forever." Let the public, the victims and survivors have their say on legacy issues. Let us get those proposals out; there is no good reason for delay. The Government need to act in taking the necessary measures and decisions —not because we want to wrong-foot others, but because it is what the people need and require, and it is what is in the best interests of everyone in Northern Ireland This budget is welcomed and the decisions that will flow from it are good and will be beneficial for many people, but we cannot continue with this impasse. The House must send a clear message this evening to the political parties in Northern Ireland, especially to Sinn Féin. If they are not prepared to step up to the mark, to take on the responsibility now and to start governing, this Parliament will do that job on behalf of the people of the United Kingdom and it will ensure that the people of Northern Ireland are provided with the political direction that they require within their Government Departments. There are people in this House who are prepared to step up to the mark and to play their role in supporting the Government in taking that forward, although we do so with some reluctance, because it is not our preferred outcome. Our preferred outcome is a functioning Executive; it is power sharing I find it rather ironic that I, as a Unionist, am the one in this House advocating power sharing in Northern Ireland, when for years it was the nationalists who told us that this was their key and core demand. And when it was delivered and they got it, what did they do? They walked out. They left. They abandoned power sharing. That leaves me wondering about the level of commitment. Are we in a situation where there are some who want to make Northern Ireland work, and others who conspire against making it work? Their credentials are on the line. I say to them, with the greatest of respect, that the DUP wants to be in government and we want to work with others, including Sinn Féin, to deliver for the people we represent. We are prepared to go into government today—no preconditions and no red lines. Let us get on with it. But this House has to send a clear message that if Sinn Féin is not prepared to do the same, this House is going to govern for the people of Northern Ireland.