Northern Ireland Bill (Allocation of Time)

Like the on-the-runs legislation. The Secretary of State’s argument about the demands from the Assembly cannot be used to back up the urgency with which this measure is being pushed through. The Secretary of State said that we want to have this measure in place so that we can have the devolution of policing and justice when the Assembly is ready. The Assembly is clearly not ready. Leaving aside the whole issue of trust, the Assembly Executive Review Committee is still considering aspects of policing, not least the police budget and whether we want the devolution of policing and justice when there is a £170 million hole in that budget.