Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 13 Rhagfyr 1973.
I did not say it, and the hon. Member cannot find a record of my saying it. I said I wanted to use the Assembly to bring down the Executive, and that has always been my point of view. Hon. Members can read the Irish Times as often as they like but I know what I said; I am not afraid of what I said and I will stand by it. I go further and I say to the House "Pass the Bill". It has passed many things. It has passed regulations about internment and detainment. It has done away with juries and has brought in one-judge trials. Still the war goes on, and until the people in Northern Ireland are allowed to have a real say in their own affairs there will not be peace. We might as well be plain about that. The House may say to the people of Northern Ireland that it will ignore them and that they will not be listened to. Very well, but the people of Northern Ireland will have to find a way to convince the Government that they will not accept that approach. One of my hon. Friends said he wished the House had been prepared to give more Members to Northern Ireland. However, the House would not even give us that.
I agree with the hon. Member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone (Mr. McManus) in one respect. He does not agree with me in many things but I, too, believe that the issue should be put to the people of the United Kingdom. They must be asked whether they want Ulster or not. If the answer is goodbye to us, that is what it would have to be, but it would not mean a united Ireland to the majority of the people in Northern Ireland.