Northern Ireland Bill (Allocation of Time)

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr. Bone). I agree with everything that he said, with two exceptions. First, he said that we would be creating a precedent if we let the Secretary of State get away with this, but unfortunately he is wrong. The precedent was created before, and the current Secretary of State is only the latest in a long line of serial offenders. One of his predecessors, my right hon. Friend the Member for Neath (Mr. Hain), whom I love very much, is in the Chamber, but he was also guilty of the same thing when he was a Secretary of State. It is time that we in this place stood up and said, "Thus far, and no further!" I disagree with the hon. Member for Wellingborough on a second point, in this case his congratulatory remarks to the spokesperson for the UCUNF. I think that the name Ulster Conservatives and Unionists—New Force is the latest title for the Opposition. The hon. Gentleman outlined how he protested last Wednesday about how the Bill was going to be dealt with, but I can give him only five marks out of 10, because he failed to fulfil what I consider to be the duty of an Opposition Member. He should have objected and joined me in my protest, as the problem goes beyond our being asked to deal with the Bill in one day. Some hon. Members may be bored stiff by these matters but—short of running naked across Parliament square—I am not sure what more I can do to draw attention to them. However, the hon. Member for Wellingborough did not join me in protesting about the fact that we were going to deal with the Bill all in one day. Front Benchers from the main parties are both the same, and they are both to blame.