Northern Ireland: Political Developments

Baroness Suttie Excerpts

Tuesday 28th March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord McAvoy (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement. In keeping with past tradition and practice of a consensus between all the parties regarding Northern Ireland, he and I have a strong relationship which is invaluable in this situation. Bearing in mind that close relationship, I know it will be a great disappointment to him that he must stand before this House again today to inform us that the talks to re-establish an inclusive, devolved Administration at Stormont have not been successful.

On 2 March, the people of Northern Ireland turned out to vote for their representation and for a devolved Assembly that will serve the needs of the whole community. If anyone has any doubt about the expectations, hopes and aspirations of the whole of the people of Northern Ireland, they may find it useful to speak to my noble friend Lady Blood, who is well tuned into opinion. A number of noble Lords throughout this House, especially those from Northern Ireland, will be able to testify to that need of the whole community. We need all the political parties in Northern Ireland collectively to live up to those expectations.

Communities and public services in Northern Ireland are suffering the day-to-day realities of this impasse. The Minister made mention of the health service—a service which is struggling with waiting lists while waiting for political leadership to be back in place. We thank the Minister for notice of the interim measures in place to allocate resources to Northern Ireland departments. We agree with his own statement that this is not sustainable.

I would like to ask the Minister about the talks moving forward. What fresh initiatives will be employed to ensure that the next round of talks are dynamic and make progress? We must ask: what will be different about these talks? Can we encourage, in the strongest possible terms, the importance of prime ministerial involvement in this process? History shows us how important this can be. I am aware of the answer the Secretary of State gave to my honourable friend the Member of Parliament for Blaydon in the other place, that the Prime Minister is involved and is conducting business through the Secretary of State. This is absolutely no reflection on the hard-working attitude of the Secretary of State, but does the Minister agree that we need greater leadership to be shown in the weeks ahead? Is he able to tell us what plans the Government have to ensure that the Prime Minister is even more actively engaged in the process?

We must also ensure high-level, direct engagement from the Irish Government in their role as a guarantor of the Good Friday agreement. Can the Minister update the House on the continuing intervention that the Irish Government have had, and will have, in the process? What options have the Government looked at in dealing with the specific issue of the renewable heat incentive scheme? Has the Secretary of State looked at the financial burden that the scheme placed on the people of Northern Ireland, and are there any options for how this may be more appropriately dealt with?

We in this House are under no illusion that this is easy. But this does not stop us—or, more importantly, the people of Northern Ireland—having high expectations of what must be achieved. We need all engaged parties, including the UK Government and the Irish Government, to ask not “What do we want?” but “What can we give to this process moving forward?”.

[Baroness Suttie (LD)]

My Lords, I, too, will start by thanking the Minister for repeating the Statement to your Lordships’ House this afternoon. I will also say that it is with a very deep sense of regret—despite the very genuine efforts by some—that we have reached this impasse.

Let us be clear: the consequences for Northern Ireland of the failure of the political parties to reach agreement to establish an Executive are very serious. We are days away from the end of the financial year, and yet—as has been said—there is no budget. There has been no vote to set next year’s regional rates. There is no programme of government. This will lead to increased uncertainty for key public services in Northern Ireland such as health and education, and in the voluntary and community sectors.

It is particularly to be regretted that the ordinary people of Northern Ireland find themselves without a voice through an Executive at Stormont at such a critical time. With the triggering of Article 50 tomorrow, this is the very time when the particular needs of Northern Ireland deserve to be clearly heard. There are very real and as yet unresolved concerns for Northern Ireland, not least about how to maintain the open border in the context of the UK leaving the customs union. Can the Minister say what mechanisms the Government intend to put in place to ensure that the views of all political parties in Northern Ireland are heard during the Brexit negotiations? Does he agree that the joint ministerial committee will have a greater role to play in the context of Brexit, and that a more balanced representation of MLAs is needed to reflect the views of Northern Ireland?

Does the Minister further agree that, in the event of the current impasse continuing, a mechanism needs to be found to keep Assembly Members in place and to engage them and their party leaders in discussions on Brexit and other issues? Will he confirm that any such mechanism would require primary legislation?

Given that the RHI scandal was one of the immediate causes of the current crisis, will the Minister confirm that it is his understanding that the inquiry chaired by Judge Coghlin could take as long as six months to complete? Is he confident that Judge Coghlin has the necessary resources to enable a rapid conclusion to the inquiry? However, it is clear that there are deeper problems than the specific issues surrounding RHI. It will therefore be necessary to do things differently in order to secure a deal and to move forwards.

We on these Benches believe that there is no alternative to devolution, but that to achieve agreement will require a renewed commitment on the part of all participants to the talks. We believe that all parties now need to take stock of their position and come back to the negotiating table in a frame of mind to reach an agreement. Does the Minster agree that it is necessary to have a renewed sense of momentum, with clear leadership and full engagement by all political parties? What concrete action are the Government taking to provide the necessary leadership at the highest level at this time?

As former President Bill Clinton said last week, making peace work is an “endless process”. It requires compromise, a cool head, leadership and a desire to put the best interests of all the people of Northern Ireland ahead of narrow political advantage. We sincerely hope that such an attitude will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.

[Lord Dunlop]

First, I thank the noble Lord and the noble Baroness for their comments. I agree with many of the sentiments they expressed. I think that the whole House will agree that the people we should have in the forefront of our mind today are the people of Northern Ireland. In the recent Assembly elections they voted overwhelmingly for strong, stable and inclusive devolved government, and it will be a matter of great disappointment to them—as it is to the Government—that the parties have been unable to reach agreement within the statutory period to enable an Executive to be formed.

This has real and practical implications. From tomorrow, a civil servant rather than elected representatives will be allocating cash for public services. This is not sustainable beyond the short term. Northern Ireland wants and needs effective, devolved government delivering on an agreed set of priorities and providing strong public services for all the people of Northern Ireland.

Turning in particular to the process going forward and who is involved in it, I say clearly that the UK Government take their responsibilities very seriously. However, it is important to say that the Northern Ireland parties also need to take their responsibilities seriously, to provide leadership and solutions to the current issues. My right honourable friend the Northern Ireland Secretary has been actively involved in supporting and facilitating the discussions between the parties over the last few weeks, and making proposals to bridge the gaps. As he said in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister has been fully engaged. She has held a number of conversations with the Taoiseach and will remain fully engaged as we go forward. However, it is worth noting that high-level interventions have not always worked in the past, as the early 2000s showed, and the circumstances today are very different, with 10 years of unbroken devolved government behind us. But of course we accept that this is a window of opportunity, and the discussions need to be intensified and inclusive. The Secretary of State will be discussing in the coming hours and days with the parties and the Irish Government the process for taking matters forward. We are working closely with the Irish Government and Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan in accordance with the three-stranded approach.

On some of the other issues, clearly Brexit is a hugely important matter, and it is absolutely vital that the interests and priorities of Northern Ireland are reflected as we prepare for the negotiations to come. That is of course why we need to get a fully functioning Executive up and running as quickly as we can. Of course, the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Office will continue to engage with stakeholders right across Northern Ireland and to represent those interests. However, it would be much more effective if the Executive were in place. There has been progress with the parties in the discussions we have just had in establishing how they can come together to represent the interests of Northern Ireland going forward.

On the RHI inquiry, I think everybody wants to see a rapid reporting of that. Clearly, the procedures are a matter for the inquiry itself, but we want the facts on this issue as quickly as we can.