Blair admits an imperfect peace
From NEWS LETTER January 28th, 1999
MERVYN PAULEY
PM turns down Hague appeal to halt releases TONY Blair yesterday spurned
fresh calls from Tory leader William Hague to halt - or at least slow down
- the early prisoner releases in Ulster while paramilitaries continue with
their punishment beatings. The Prime Minister admitted at Commons Question
Time it was an "imperfect peace" brought about by the Good Friday Agreement
but insisted: "It's better than no process and no peace at all." He repeatedly
warned Mr Hague that to stop the prisoner release programme would wreck
the peace accord and have "immense consequences" for efforts to prevent
a return to the violence of the past. The exchanges came ahead of the major
Opposition debate on the wave of terrorist attacks and mutilations in the
Province. Mr Hague underlined the depth of Conservative concerns over the
issue, taking up more than 10 minutes of the 30-minute session and rising
five times to challenge the Prime Minister. In an apparent softening of
his party's key demand, the Tory leader argued there was abundant evidence
to justify at least putting the release programme "on hold". He warned that
unless this happened "every single terrorist could be released from prison without a single gun being given up". There were fears last night that the
exchanges would put further - perhaps irreparable - strains on the bipartisan
approach taken by the two main parties to Ulster issues. Mr Blair acknowledged
this by saying that Labour in opposition had supported the previous Tory
government through difficulties in Northern Ireland and added: "True bi-partisanship is not about talking about it, it's about delivering it!" He accepted Mr
Hague was raising the issue in good faith but warned: "I do believe you are dragged along by some who do not wish this Agreement well ... I do question the motives of some of them." Mr Hague denied he was being "dragged along" by anyone and pledged continued backing for the Stormont deal. He welcomed the meeting convened by Mo Mowlam on Monday "to demand an end to these horrific acts". But he said a few hours afterwards a 24-year-old man was seized in
east Belfast and shot twice. "The same thing happened last night and, in the last few hours, Eamon Collins, who turned informer against the IRA, has apparently been found dead. There is mounting concern in all parts of the House about this matter." He asked: "Will you confirm that the Government does have the legal power to halt the early release of terrorist prisoners if this barbaric activity doesn't stop and if they wish to do so?" Mr Blair replied: "Yes. We have the power to bring to an end and stop the early prisoner releases." "We would do so in circumstances where we could not, any longer, say that there was a ceasefire in place." He said that in 1994 there were 192 punishment beatings, in 1995, 220; in 1996, 326; in 1997, 228 and in 1998, 209. "None of these are tolerable. None of these are right. We should do everything we can to stop them and bring to justice those responsible."
There was a ceasefire under the previous Tory government, when punishment
beatings were being carried out "to a greater degree even than now". The
Tory judgment at the time, which Labour supported, was that it was not right
to bring the whole process to an end. Mr Hague said the word "beatings"
did not do justice to what was happening. He also pointed out there was
no Agreement when the previous beatings and mutilations were taking place.
"We now have the Good Friday Agreement and people are meant to be implementing it," he told Mr Blair. "The Government not only has the power but the justification for at least putting on hold the terrorist releases which are now taking place." Mr Blair said the prisoner releases were slowing down, running at about one third of the previous rate. "We can stop them altogether. That is true. We should do so in circumstances where we then declare the ceasefire no longer exists." "If that were to be the case the consequences would be immense for the whole of the process in Northern Ireland." "I'm not saying it would never be wrong to come to that judgment. I'm just saying I don't believe that is the right judgment now." Mr Blair said that under the Tory
government there had been an early release scheme, with 325 allowed out
of prison then, compared to 238 under the latest programme. "It is correct there were no lifers involved, but they were prisoners nonetheless, convicted of such offences as conspiracy to murder, to cause explosions ..." Mr Hague vowed his party would continue to support the Good Friday deal, but there were Labour backbench protests when he said: "We have a bi-partisan policy but we have a disagreement over this particular matter and so do some Labour MPs." |
