Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

Lord Browne of Belmont Excerpts

Tuesday 25th February 2014 Lords Chamber

I could continue with a list of these hypotheticals, but I think I have made the point that, by appeasing the Northern Ireland Executive on such a vital policy matter, the Government are sliding down a slippery slope that will help destroy Northern Ireland’s creative economy, destroy jobs and grievously undermine free speech. This issue is too important for the Government and, with respect, the Labour Party simply to say it is a devolved matter. If we maintain that approach, that will come back to haunt us in ways which we cannot imagine. The most regrettable thing of the lot is that it is the people of Northern Ireland who will pay the price.

[Lord Browne of Belmont (DUP)]

My Lords, defamation, in common with other civil-law matters, is a devolved area, so the law in Northern Ireland is indeed a matter for the Northern Ireland Assembly. As the Minister stated in Committee, it is essential that we all respect the devolution process—and part of that process is that you have different laws in different parts of the country.

Devolution in Northern Ireland permits the devolved legislature and Executive to develop policies that differ from those in the rest of the United Kingdom. Therefore it is only right and proper that the Northern Ireland Executive should have the opportunity to consult on whether or not the Defamation Act 2013 should apply to Northern Ireland. Indeed, the Minister of Finance and Personnel, Mr Simon Hamilton MLA, has already asked the Northern Ireland Law Commission to assess the Defamation Act 2013. The Northern Ireland Law Commission is an independent body and will undertake a complete public consultation on the issue so that the people of Northern Ireland will have an opportunity to contribute to the discussion. I am sure that noble Lords who have contributed to this debate will make a robust submission to the Law Commission.

As we have heard, currently Mr Michael Nesbitt MLA has said that he is to introduce a Private Member’s Bill. To date he has launched a consultation on the issue but as yet no detailed analysis of the responses he has received has been published. I understand that he is willing to pass these responses on to the Northern Ireland Law Commission. The law commission is a fully independent body and is not subject to the direction or control of the Assembly or Government. The Northern Ireland Finance Minister has made it abundantly clear that, as with any other law commission report, all recommendations will have to be thoroughly assessed with a view to making final policy recommendations.

It is only right and proper that the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly be allowed time to receive this report and I trust that they will act in a responsible manner after receiving its findings.

[Lord Carswell (CB)]

My Lords, the Defamation Act 2013 was wholly admirable legislation which righted and rebalanced the law of libel and slander in a thoroughly excellent way. It needed to be done and had been required for some time and I applaud the efforts of those who supported its enactment and who pioneered the hard work required to get it into legislation.

I cannot understand, and I can think of no sensible or acceptable reason, why the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly have failed to adopt the Act and put it into effect. However, I have listened with great interest to what has been said today by the eloquent speakers who have supported the amendment and I have read what was said in Committee, when I was not able to be present, and I find myself in complete agreement with practically everything that has been said today about the desirability of Northern Ireland introducing the provisions of the Defamation Act.

I appreciate the kind sympathy that the noble Lord, Lord Lester of Herne Hill, has extended to the Northern Ireland judiciary, of which I was privileged to be part, although not in the litigation to which he referred in such affecting terms. I think it was after I had been translated to become a member of the Appellate Committee of your Lordships’ House and therefore I cannot speak about the rights or wrongs of that case or of any other particular litigation.

Notwithstanding all that I have said, I have concerns and reservations and I owe it to the House and to those noble Lords supporting the amendment to say why. This is a reserved matter, as the noble Lord, Lord Browne of Belmont, has reminded the House, and it is therefore devolved unless taken back by the sovereign Parliament. I accept—there is no doubt about it—that, in principle, this Parliament, as a sovereign Parliament, is entitled to override any part of the legislation and to enact this if it sees fit, if it thinks that it is a proper case to do so.

My concern is whether it is right, sensible or wise to intervene in this way with a reserved matter, however important or desirable it is that the amendment should be put into effect. Where are the limits to lie for the House taking such a step? Is it not dangerous precedence for us to do that, even with something as important and fundamental as this? I accept all that has been said about the importance of free speech and the subject matter of the amendment, but is it wise? Would it create danger; would it start a process? If we do this in relation to this Bill, where will it finish if other people try to press Members of either House to introduce similar legislation amending Northern Ireland law in reserved matters on less fundamental subjects?

I do not find it easy to answer such questions. I am concerned that, if we go down that road, it is difficult to see where it will take us. I would very much like to see the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly adopting this without delay. It is time it was done briskly and expeditiously, but whether we should do it is another matter. It is with very real regret that I find it difficult to support the amendment, however important and desirable the result would be.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Browne of Belmont]

My Lords, this is an issue that the noble Lords, Lord Trimble and Lord Empey, have returned to on several occasions in the past, and I am sure that they will keep doing so in the future. However, as I pointed out in Committee, no other ministerial appointments, with the exception at present of the Justice Ministry, require cross-community support. It seems inappropriate that this requirement should be applied to the appointment of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.

In Northern Ireland we are currently experiencing the longest period of stable government in a generation. What is detailed in the amendment simply moves us backwards and returns us to the position that existed in Northern Ireland pre-St Andrews. When we look back at Northern Ireland under the devolved institutions prior to the St Andrews talks and compare it with the stable Province we now have as a result of an extended period of devolved government since 2007, we see a remarkably different country.

As noble Lords will be aware, and as I mentioned in Committee, there is a legal requirement placed upon the Northern Ireland Assembly to provide a report on how the Assembly structures can be improved. My party, the Democratic Unionist Party, would be reluctant to pre-empt the work ongoing in the Assembly to review its functions and those of all the political institutions by supporting amendments such as this. It is my firm belief that it is inappropriate to simply unpick some parts of the relevant legislation. This amendment would simply divert attention from the important issues and challenges that Northern Ireland and its politicians face every single day. If changes are to be made we must look at the totality of the system of devolved government.

[Lord Alderdice]

I am encouraged by some of the things the noble Lord has said. I would be encouraged even more if he was able to give an undertaking that his party will also adhere to its commitment to this way of forming the First Minister and Deputy First Minister portfolios whatever the outcome of the Assembly elections in 2016. It would be a real reassurance not only to this House but to others if he was able to give an undertaking that his and his party’s commitment to this way of working is not only for when they have the First Minister but for whichever party has the First Minister.

[Lord Browne of Belmont]

I am not in a position to speak for the Executive or for my party in the Assembly. However, I am sure that they would wish to progress in a way that they believe will serve the people of Northern Ireland best.

I oppose the amendment and I hope that we will be able to proceed with the elections in Northern Ireland. Unlike the Ulster Unionists, I am not pessimistic about the outcome; I am very optimistic.

[Lord Bew]

My Lords, I support the amendment. It is not the least of the distinctions of the noble Lord, Lord Trimble, that he is a former First Minister of Northern Ireland. He is not the only former First Minister of Northern Ireland in this House, but he is the only one who can say that he was supported by a majority of both communities in the process of election. We have lost something in the structures of the Assembly and the way it operates simply by the absence of that process and that type of affirmation for the First Ministership.

However, I do not want to dwell on the past. A number of points have been raised today about the future and possible destabilising trends—some of which might or might not eventuate—and it is important that we do not sleepwalk into this possible crisis with the Executive and the institutions. The noble Lord, Lord Alderdice, asked a profound question, and one way of considering the implications of the question is that some of the parties, at least, to the current arrangements may no longer have precisely the same investment in those arrangements that they once had. If possible, there should be a dialogue or discussion in the Assembly with a view always to maintaining the stability of Northern Ireland, because there is a possibility, for the reasons mentioned by the noble Lords, Lord Kilclooney and Lord Trimble, that we are sleepwalking into a crisis with these institutions. The noble Lord, Lord Browne, is right: these institutions have delivered a form of stability for some years now, but that does not mean that they will continue to do so. I would like reassurance that the Government are keeping the matter under review and are not sleepwalking.