Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill

As the Minister said, new clause 5 introduces a fifth model on top of the four that the 2006 Act gave us. When we debated that Act, I predicted that the Government would come back with at least one additional model because, from the nature of things, it would obviously be needed. The Minister and other hon. Members shook their heads, but lo and behold we have an additional model, this time as a default model. The Minister emphasised that the Secretary of State would use the powers in new clause 5 if the one stumbling block to the devolution of justice and policing was the departmental model, but it is highly likely that the departmental model will not be the stumbling block. Other considerations or calculations will cause the DUP to resist the devolution of justice and policing by May 2008 or at some other time. That is the fatal flaw arising from the 2006 Act and it still needs to be addressed. We have argued to the Government that giving the DUP the triple lock in such an indefinite and unfettered way means that the date of May 2008 is merely aspirational. No matter how many times the Secretary of State says it, no matter how many times the Prime Minister says it, no matter how many times Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness say it, the date remains aspirational at best unless the Government back amending legislation to make the date of May 2008 a definite, determined backstop, a time by which the devolution of justice and policing must be achieved. Notwithstanding earlier welcomes for the advance in Sinn Fein’s position on policing, Members should recognise that it involves qualifications. Yes, Sinn Fein is calling on people to report crime to the police if they are victims, and Gerry Adams has even said that young republicans, indeed republicans of all ages, should be free to join the police. But Sinn Fein is still saying that it will not join the institutions of policing unless and until the DUP agrees on a definite date for the devolution of justice and policing. For as long as the DUP has a veto on an indefinite basis, Sinn Fein will continue to resile from its responsibilities on the Policing Board. The main aim of new clause 2 is to place a time limit on the veto, thereby removing Sinn Fein’s excuse for not stepping forthwith into the institutions of policing and the positions that would come to its members following the election. Apart from the fact that the provisions of new clause 5 will be invoked only if the model is the outstanding issue, the new clause does nothing to deliver the devolution of justice and policing by May 2008. It does not remove the veto preventing the transfer of powers, and it does not resolve the question of appointment. As the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik) pointed out, if it is left to the Assembly it could prove difficult to effect an appointment in the Assembly. We have more than a triple lock or a quadruple lock; we have what could be described as a double version of that, which we have tried to disentangle in new clause 2. The Government’s new, fifth model involves a Justice Minister and a Deputy Justice Minister. Who does the Minister think would take the job of Deputy Justice Minister? It is a complete non-job, and I think that a person would have to be certifiably mad to take it. For one thing, it is a temporary post, to be reviewed after two years and 10 months. Regardless of what lead responsibilities the Deputy Justice Minister may have, agreement must be secured from the Minister, and also from the First and Deputy First Ministers. Securing agreement from, potentially, three parties will be a curious enough affair in itself. Moreover, the deputy Minister will be under the direction of the Minister, as will everyone else in the Department.