Sir Patrick Cormack FSA

Conservative Party | Staffordshire South

Question on Police

Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire) (Con): It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik), who, as he reminded us, brings an element of continuity to these Northern Ireland debates. As heir to Gladstone, whose mission was to pacify Ireland, perhaps he should be referred to as the grand old man of Northern Ireland politics. However, I prefer to call him the cheeky boy of Northern Ireland politics.

I add my congratulations to the Minister of State on his well-deserved promotion. I also welcome the Secretary of State and hope that he is able to build on the real achievements of his predecessor, whom we shall miss in Northern Ireland politics.

I should also like to say that my hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Lidington) has been an exemplary spokesman on this subject. Rumour has it that he is moving to other pastures; if so, I hope he will always look back on the years when he had responsibility for Northern Ireland affairs for the Opposition with a degree of quiet satisfaction and pride. He has made a positive contribution. He has never scored cheap party points in debate. He has given support to the Government, who have deserved support, but he has never held back from constructive criticism when it was necessary. I for one will miss him in that role, and wish him every possible success in his new one.

A few months ago, we would probably not have thought that this measure would come before us so early. A dramatic development has taken place in Northern Ireland over the past few months, for which the Government deserve credit, as do all those who have played a part, particularly the politicians from Northern Ireland. The self-effacing attitude of the hon. Member for South Down (Mr. McGrady) has been a contributory factor in building stability in Northern Ireland. I hope that he will have many more years of involvement in Northern Ireland politics because his sagacity and experience will be needed for a long time to come.

We are making a gesture of faith in approving the order tonight. I am delighted that my hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury will not be pressing for a Division, and it is clear that the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire will not do so; they are both right. It is, however, a gesture of faith, although not entirely a leap in the dark. It is crucial that those responsible for such matters keep the policing system and the DPPs under constant monitoring and review, as my hon. Friend said.

Although great progress has been made, exactly a year ago the Northern Ireland Committee produced a report on organised crime in Northern Ireland that showed a disturbing amount of paramilitary activity and crime. We took evidence—much of which we had to take in private—that was deeply disturbing. Earlier this year, we produced a report on community restorative justice schemes. While we said unequivocally that they have a real part to play in Northern Ireland, we also pointed to some of the worries and problems, and the danger of people infiltrating the systems. The hon. Member for South Down has been particularly eloquent on that subject, and rightly so. District policing partnerships are not immune to manipulation by those with evil intent. If we are truly to move to proper normality in Northern Ireland, we must have a policing service that is held in high regard and upheld by all sections of the community. I am cautiously optimistic. I believe that it will be, but we are not there yet.

The creation of the PSNI, which was not without controversy, as the hon. Member for South Down reminded us earlier, was itself a gesture of faith. It has worked, as much as anything else because of the outstanding leadership of Sir Hugh Orde, the Chief Constable, who has performed as great a service to the people of Northern Ireland as any other individual over the past few years, and it is important that we put that on record. But if Sir Hugh is to be upheld—and his successors, because he will not be there for ever—we must do more than just approve the order tonight; we must ensure that it is properly monitored and kept under constant and vigilant review.

I shall weary the House for one moment more with a little anecdote. I gave lunch today to the Bosnian ambassador. I happen to be chairman of the all-party Bosnia group, and I was one of the few who spoke out about Bosnia when the Government and the Opposition of the day were not speaking out as they should have done. I talked to the Bosnian ambassador about the developments, changes and progress, and about her travels in the United Kingdom. She has recently been to Northern Ireland, and she said how utterly taken aback and bewildered she was to see the so-called peace walls. She said, “There is nothing like that in my country.” That brought me up sharp and made me realise that, although we are understandably in a bit of a mood of euphoria at the moment, following the events of 8 May, and subsequent developments—we are all delighted about that—there is still quite a long way to go before we have a truly normal society in Northern Ireland. I am glad that the hon. Member for South Down agrees with me on that. Until those peace walls are dismantled, and until they stop painting the kerbstones red, white and blue, or green and orange, we will always have the seeds of incipient conflict within Northern Ireland.

The one institution that can help to ensure that we do progress to normality is the PSNI, and it can do that only if it is upheld by politicians of all persuasions and community leaders in all walks of life. The order is a gesture of faith in them. In that context, I approve of it, and I hope that my worries, which are real, will prove groundless.