Blair
admits an imperfect peace
From NEWS LETTER January 28th, 1999
Mr Hague said Ms Mowlam had said she would act if evidence was presented
to her that paramilitary groups were returning to violence. "Much of that evidence is there," he insisted. "The evidence is there from families of victims, from so many sources." "The evidence exists in abundance and there can be little doubt that the paramilitary organisations are responsible for what is happening." Mr Blair said he did not dispute the Opposition
leader's right to raise the issue. "What I dispute is that under the previous Government, they had to make very difficult judgments in these circumstances ... when for months they were engaged in secret negotiations with the IRA." "When they came to this House and had to admit they did so, not a single member of the Opposition or the Liberal Democrats criticised them for it because we know the difficulties of this process." Mr Hague said: "I raise these points because the representatives of Families Against Intimidation and Terror came to see me this morning, said I was right to raise this issue and please go on doing so. It's on their behalf that we raise it." "Will you guarantee that that situation will not come about?" Mr Blair retorted:
"I believe the Good Friday Agreement still provides the best chance for peace in Northern Ireland. I've made clear our total condemnation of these attacks and our desire to do all we can to prevent them." "But you also have to face up to the consequences of what you are demanding me to do. If we end up exercising our power, declaring the ceasefire at an end, the consequences for this Agreement would be huge." "We make a judgment the whole time but I believe that judgment essentially is still correct." "I ask you and Tory backbenchers to recognise the difficulty of any Government in this situation and the enormous consequences of bringing this process to an end." In one final challenge, Mr Hague said he recognised the difficulty but pointed
out the "great danger that before long all the terrorists would be free without meeting their part of the Agreement." "For that reason alone, we say it is right now to put on hold the early release of terrorist prisoners."
Mr Blair recalled that the previous Government's majority depended on the
support of the Ulster Unionists. "At any point through all the difficulties of those years, we could have brought that Government down, had we wished to, on this matter." "We didn't because we believed the broader public interest demanded we act responsibly. I still believe the broader public interest is secured by making this agreement work." |
