Orders of the Day — Northern Ireland Constitution (Amendment) Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 13 Rhagfyr 1973.

Danfonwch hysbysiad imi am ddadleuon fel hyn

Photo of Ian Paisley Ian Paisley Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party 12:00, 13 Rhagfyr 1973

We are making an historic decision in this Chamber. We in Northern Ireland hear a great deal about the enthusiasm of this House for what it is doing. A prominent member of the Executive-designate, Mr. Basil McIvor, has told the people of Northern Ireland that 600 Members of Parliament, waving their Order Papers enthusiastically, passed the Northern Ireland Constitution Act in a united effort to bring peace to our land. Those of us who have done our spell of duty in this House on matters relating to Northern Ireland know that that is a falsehood. Even for the Second Reading debate there was a sparse House, and the Opposition, by not opposing it, did not need to vote for it, so Opposition Members took a holiday. Let us be truthful. There is no great enthusiasm in the House, even tonight.

What amazes the people of Northern Ireland is that Ministers of Her Majesty's Government and hon. and right hon. Members of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, and even hon. Members on the Government benches, should claim to know what the people of Northern Ireland are thinking. They tell us almost to the thousand what will be the majority one way or the other. The hon. Member for Leeds, South (Mr. Merlyn Rees) often taunts us by asking who speaks for whom. He never fought an election in Northern Ireland. He submitted himself to the electorate at the same time as I did, and we were elected on the same day. Eventually, the people of Northern Ireland were given an election—a strange one. It was not an election in which any party could say that if its members were returned to power it would do certain things. It was an election on the Northern Ireland Constitution Act, which provided that no party could ever be the Government. There was a veto, clearly spelt out by the former Secretary of State, that unless the Republican elements in the community joined the Executive there could be no Government.

I asked the Library to tell me the voting figures at that election. Last night on television the Minister of State told the people that he knew confidentially that this solution was widely accepted. The Northern Ireland election was not fought on who should be the Government, for no Government could come out of it. It was fought on the issue of the White Paper and the Northern Ireland Constitution Act.

The party of the hon. Member for Belfast, West (Mr. Fitt) fought the election on the issue of the conference table. We fought it on the basis that we rejected the proposals and thought that there should be re-negotiation. Now, the hon. Member for Belfast, North (Mr. Stratton Mills) tells us that he knows that only a few hooligans think that this solution cannot work. He has never submitted himself to an electorate as a member of the Alliance Party. He came into the House as an official Unionist. A member of the Alliance Party submitted himself to the electorate in his constituency and scraped in without getting the quota. The hon. Member, therefore, has no right to tell us that he knows what the electorate thinks. His party got 66,541 first preference votes, yet he tells us that only a few people are against the proposal.

Mr. Faulkner's party, which stood on the pro-Unionist ticket, got 162,000 first preference votes. I remember when Mr. Faulkner submitted himself to the electorate. He was not altogether for the White Paper. He had strong reservations on the Council of Ireland and felt that there could never be a Council of Ireland until Articles 2 and 3 of the Eire Constitution were deleted. It was spelled out clearly. Yet Mr. Cosgrave could go on television last Sunday night and say that it was never mentioned at Sunningdale.

What about those who oppose the White Paper? The opponents cast 264,000 first preference votes; 149,483 votes were cast for the SDLP. The 264,000 votes represent a large section of the community.

We were given the first Bill and told that, when passed, it would be the law of the land and could not be changed. But we are changing it today. The plebiscite can also be changed. The only hope for the people of Northern Ireland to stay out of the Republic is to keep their majority. That is the only safeguard. All these little enshrinements at the United Nations mean nothing. The only thing that will keep Northern Ireland out of a united Ireland will be that majority of people refusing to support the move.