Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning Act 1997 (Amnesty Period) Order 2007

I fully accept that. Please believe that I am not playing with words. I understand that point and I understand what was said after that meeting, but we have been clear about the consequences of failure. We have put orders before the House to enable practical co-operation on the island of Ireland on matters that benefit everybody; whether animal disease control, or the electricity authority. A joint market for electricity is an example of north-south co-operation set out in the Good Friday agreement. However, the noble Lord talked of controlling internal affairs. North-south co-operation is not about control from the south into the north, it is about what we can do together to benefit our two communities—north and south. The examples of animal disease control, food production, avian flu and the all-Ireland electricity market are matters of supreme economic benefit for north and south. But they will not involve the apocalypse that people might envisage in part of the loyalist community. That should be made quite clear.