Speech by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass:

My Lords, Just in case there is any doubt, I have been a lifelong devolutionist and I've also had the privilege of being at David Trimble's, now Lord Trimble's, right hand when he negotiated the Belfast Agreement. I would be happy if Northern Ireland was confident and able to deal with devolved Policing and Justice. I would be ecstatic if Northern Ireland's political machinations over the past three years had been based on honesty, openness, industry and integrity - but sadly that is not the case. Hence, today I want to put the record straight.

Today we have a Prime Minister and a Secretary of State, Shaun Woodward, who have chosen to ignore the centre ground of politics in Northern Ireland in favour of an exclusive carve-up of its future among two parties that are driven by years of mockery and exploitation of the people of Northern Ireland.

Before anyone tells me I should be celebrating the transformation of the DUP and Sinn Fein, let me spell out the inconsistencies of those two parties. The latter has, we all know, murdered its way to power, is led by murderers who not only will never be brought to justice in this life but who will never be publicly examined. I have, by necessity, accepted that and sought to put the past behind, as has the Ulster Unionist Party. But at the same time every alleged mistake and misjudgement of police and military, who were placed ill-prepared and ill-equipped between the killers and the vulnerable general public 40 years ago, is still being judged against today's background of comparative normality.

For twelve years - a political lifetime in New Labour parlance - we've been promised and waited for the Saville Report only to be given the impression over the past few days that we're not likely to hear any details until after the election - not hear about £200 millions worth of millionaire lawyers that the initiators dare not to reveal at the hustings.

Against that we have retired police officers - some now in their 80s - still being held to their "honour obligations" in relation to events up to 30 years past. No millionaires there. They're lucky, while their retirement is being held to ransom, if they get lunch expenses for their time.

There's not much point in going into the history of the DUP who brought down the Sunningdale Agreement in 1974 when Sinn Fein did not even exist as a political party and when we could have dealt with people like the late Noble Lord Fitt. It was the same DUP who mimicked the 'Red Berets' at their Kings Hall rally; who misled the Unionist electorate with lies about the dangers of the Belfast Agreement and then proceeded to undermine, weaken and remove its safeguards at St Andrews and through their recent Hillsborough aberration.

Why has it been necessary for me to recount these destructive realities from the past? It's quite simply because Shaun Woodward has pandered to the baser instincts of these very people with £800 million 'blood money'. Let me try to understand that vast sum that the SoS threatened to deny Policing and Justice unless a deal was done.

Was this money actually needed by policing and justice? If so was the SoS telling us that he was prepared to leave the people of Northern Ireland at the mercy of dissident IRA and criminal gangs? Or was this a bribe - "I'll create a little trough into which you can stick your snouts"! When one sees what has gone on over the past 8 or 9 years and not least the wheeling and dealing of the past few days I suppose anything is possible. Or was it blackmail "SoS, we'll do anything you want but it'll cost you"!

It has to be one of those three - unless, of course the Noble Lady, the Minister is minded to admit it was simply the 'mindless arrogance of Shaun Woodward'! The Noble Lord Glentoran last week described him as the "worst N.I. SoS for the past eleven years". Well, Lord Glentoran was wrong - so very wrong - Shaun Woodward has been the worst N.I. SoS for the past 38 years and its against that background that I evaluate his Policing and Justice debacle.

Before I leave the £800 millions mystery money let us remember that Northern Ireland has been asked to make over £400 million savings this year - £113 millions being deducted from Health and Social Care - already under-funded by upwards of £600m compared to England.

The DUP and Sinn Fein are no better than Shaun Woodward at understanding and controlling public finances. The wastage in the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister alone is staggering - four hundred staff (which is bigger than Downing Street), four separate Ministerial private offices and eight advisers! The recent opinion poll commissioned by the same office cost upwards of £40,000. This figure alone could have paid for an extra four heart operations or seven hip replacements.

And opinion polls are not the flavour of the month. The SoS spent the equivalent of 1 heart operation and 1 hip replacement on his own creation - his own loaded question - to deliberately mislead the public. Listen to his question, my Noble Lords, "I believe we should transfer policing and justice powers to Stormont - so that the Executive can get on with the job of improving life for everyone in Northern Ireland".

So that the Executive can get on with the job of improving life for everyone in Northern Ireland - is that a loaded question?

Yes, just as loaded and heartless as trailing a poor grieving police widow out on the 1st anniversary of her husband's murder to make a personal appeal! How cynical can the NIO be?

Let me move in conclusion to the state of policing and justice that the Assembly will inherit. A Public Prosecution Service that could not win the Omagh bomb prosecution whereas the Noble Lord, Lord Brennan was able to win a civil case based on the same incident; a PPS that could not win the McCartney murder case despite dozens of witnesses. This was the same PPS who would not prosecute the Thomas Devlin murder until the persistence of the family and public forced it to do so and where a verdict of guilty against the two defendants was then obtained after the victim's family were put through Hell.

That's the same for most trials where few, if any serious crimes are brought to court inside a two and a half to three year period - justice delayed are hardly justice. 44,000 police files go annually to the PPS - justice is regularly delayed - is it any wonder we have a high rate of recidivism?

Similarly with policing where, just this weekend, a major police operation was able to be fired on by dissidents without fire being returned. In fact, despite over half a dozen dissident murders in the past year or thereabouts not a single shot has been returned - in fact, in one case, police having dissident gunmen in their sights were congratulated for withdrawing from the scene.

What are we getting into? I know from long personal experience at 'the coalface' that no one from the Assembly is equipped to provide what policing and justice requires. Let me say that Paul Goggins, despite the hindrance of the NIO, has made a valiant effort but there's no one in the frame in the Northern Ireland Assembly that would know a gun from a sling shot or has any practical knowledge of Youth Justice, the Probation Service, Prisons, Courts or any of the complex aspects of what is to be undertaken.

Not only that, but the agreed d'Hondt system is having to be corrupted for a Minister of Justice to be appointed.

Not a single iota of planning and preparation has been achieved. There is no one in your Lordship's House who has served our country in uniform that will be other than shocked that not a single command and infrastructural provision has been decided upon, let alone established.

One might a well put Mr David Ford, an agreeable man against whom I have no prejudice, into a rocket aimed at the moon and expect him to arrive back safely.

My Lords for the right reasons but with the wrong approach we are heading for potential disaster. That is progress or so I'm meant to believe. My Lords, if I look depressed it's only half of what I feel