Northern Ireland Budget Bill

Deidre Brock Excerpts

2nd reading: House of Commons & 3rd reading: House of Commons & Report stage: House of Commons
Monday 13th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Dodds]

I hear what the hon. Gentleman says, but I have to say that the last 10 years, during which time the DUP has been in government, along with Sinn Féin and other parties in Northern Ireland, have been a period of great progress. Good things have been done for Northern Ireland. It now has the second highest level of foreign direct investment in the UK, outside London and the south-east, and we have seen big increases in the number of tourists coming to Northern Ireland and in investment from that source. There are opportunities to move Northern Ireland forward, and I hope that we can get devolved government up and running again in partnership with Sinn Féin and other parties in Northern Ireland, but we have to take cognisance of where we are. We have to take sensible, practical measures in the meantime to ensure that Northern Ireland Departments do not run out of money, which is why I warmly welcome what the Secretary of State has done today and the way he has spelled it out. The fact is that unless we take this measure, we will not have the money to maintain our hospitals, schools and roads.

[Deidre Brock (Edinburgh North and Leith) (SNP)]

One measure still available to the Secretary of State is to call another election. What would the right hon. Gentleman’s view on that be, should the impasse continue?

[Nigel Dodds]

The hon. Lady raises an interesting point. As things stand—under current legislation—the Secretary of State is under a legal obligation to call an election. He does not have to call it immediately, but the Northern Ireland Executive cannot legally be restored, as things stand, unless new primary legislation is introduced, and, in fact, there is an obligation to consider another election. The question arises, of course, as to whether another election would change anything or improve the prospects of an agreement.

In the June general election, our party received the highest vote of any single party in Northern Ireland since 1985, so we do not fear another election. We do not fear another general election here either. We are probably the only party in the House that can confidently say, if there was a general election tomorrow, that it would have no difficulties with the result. [Interruption.] Labour Members, from a sedentary position, mention a possible deal. I vividly remember the conversations with the Labour party in 2010 and 2015—it is interesting to recall all that. That said, we do not want a general election, and we do not necessarily expect an Assembly election to change much in Northern Ireland. The main focus has to be on getting the Assembly and the Executive up and running as quickly as possible.

--- Later in debate ---

[Deidre Brock (Edinburgh North and Leith) (SNP)]

First, I want to make clear my support for the Secretary of State’s comments regarding the PSNI and its commendable handling of, as he rightly described it, a repugnant act in Omagh, and the shadow Secretary of State’s remarks about the further outrages that have come to light today. I also want to make it clear that I will be confining myself to commenting on the budget Bill as presented by the Secretary of State, as I am aware that plenty of Members wish to speak in this debate.

I begin, too, by making clear my view that we are here doing something that should more properly be done in Belfast. Budgets affecting the people of Northern Ireland and the public services in Northern Ireland should be decided at Stormont, not here. No matter how good the intentions of Members in this Chamber—I do believe that the Secretary of State has good intentions in this—this cannot be a substitute for the proper consideration of the Assembly.

Northern Ireland has been without an Administration for far too long, and the negotiations over reforming that Administration seem bogged down in a way that previous leaders of the largest parties in the Assembly would never have allowed. I have respect for the current leaders, but if Mr Paisley and Mr McGuinness could find a way to work together and move forward, I am certain that two intelligent women can find agreement and a future direction without blame or rancour. There are difficulties—no one would suggest that there are none—but surely there are no insurmountable difficulties, and there is nothing that should be holding up such vital negotiations for so long.

Assembly Members have been without a plenary for far too long and will, no doubt, have to answer ultimately to their constituents for that, although the Prime Minister might be looking enviously at Arlene Foster just now and thinking that the absence of Cabinet Ministers might be no bad thing. From looking at how things have been going so far, it seems likely that there is going to be a fair bit more push and pull before we see the Assembly back to work, particularly with the renewable heat initiative inquiry rumbling its way through public life over the water, but the focus of the Stormont parties must be on getting it back up and running.

Decisions about Northern Ireland should be taken in Northern Ireland by the people who know best what the communities there need; Belfast should decide. Decisions are best made by the people most directly affected. With all the certainty in our own best judgment that we are able to summon here and with all the noise that is generated on a regular basis, we still cannot offer, as the Secretary of State suggested, the scrutiny of the needs of the communities of Northern Ireland that Assembly Members can offer, even allowing for the considerable knowledge of Members representing Northern Ireland constituencies on the Back Benches here.

Scottish National party Members will not stand in the way of this Bill, which is important because it will keep the lights on in hospitals and the heating on in schools, and keep the police on the streets and local authorities working. So we will watch it through its proceedings today. It is certainly to be hoped, however, that this place does not need to do anything of this nature in the future and that the budgets for services in Northern Ireland will be decided and passed in Belfast.

It was good to hear some of the comments made today about the Northern Irish civil service. We do not mention the civil servants very much in any of our debates about Northern Ireland generally, but it would be remiss of us to go through the process of passing the Bill today without mentioning the contribution that they have made to keeping public services running in Northern Ireland, and we should note that with gratitude. Civil servants have carried on delivering even when they have been deprived of the political leadership that gives them cover as well as direction, and we should offer them additional support while they keep things running. The past months cannot have been easy for them and we owe them our thanks.

While we wait for the outcome of the negotiations to give those civil servants some respite, however, we should be clear about what is and is not acceptable for the future. The Secretary of State is clear that this Bill does not represent a return to direct rule. I certainly do not want that at all, and I appreciate his comments, but he has spoken about a glide path to increasing intervention by the UK Government. I urge him to do everything possible to avoid that. The continuation of the talks is essential and will be taking up a fair amount of his time, but I urge him to keep it in mind that restoring devolution must be the aim.

Stormont is adrift, but it would not be beneficial for it to flounder; the rocks upon which it would flounder might set back the peace process and the significant advances the communities of Northern Ireland have achieved during the years of peace. There must be no return to the entrenched attitudes and intransigent opinions that bedevilled those communities for decades.

I hope that passing the Bill is the last time we have to do something of this nature, rather than it being done in Belfast. With regret, but with hope as well, I support the Bill.

[Several hon. Members rose—]