The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Tag: Sinn Fein

  • Mr Major’s Comments on Northern Ireland – 29 December 1994

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments on Northern Ireland, made during an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, made in London on Thursday 29th December 1994.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked whether an elected body was achievable and what would be achieved in the next 12 months].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I think it is impossible to say how far we will have gone. Most people looking back twelve months ago would not have imagined the progress that has been made in the last year. It will remain in the centre of the agenda, I think that is entirely clear. I hope very soon we will be able to agree a framework document with the Irish Government; we will then publish that so that everyone in Northern Ireland can see what is in it. I hope we will be able to get through the preliminary talks with Sinn Fein and the Loyalist paramilitaries and engage then in the mainstream talks amongst the political parties. I certainly hope to make that progress but quite how rapid that will be I can’t say.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked whether Sinn Fein sought a genuine settlement].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    I very much hope so. I can’t see any advantage to Sinn Fein in not seeking a settlement if a satisfactory agreement can be reached, so I very much hope they are talking in good faith.

    QUESTION:

    [Mr Major was asked if he believed that Martin McGuinness was willing to do a deal]

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Only time will tell. I have never promised this will be easy and I have never promised that a satisfactory outcome was certain, for it isn’t, but I do believe we have a better chance than we have known at any stage in the last quarter of a century of reaching a settlement. A huge amount of progress has been made. Time and time again, people have said to me: “But you can’t overcome the next hurdle!” and we have overcome the next hurdle. There are many difficulties that lie immediately ahead, not least the question of the decommissioning of arms, but steadily they have been brushed to one side.

    What I think gives cause for the greatest optimism is the sheer effort of will amongst the people of Northern Ireland that they themselves wish to see a final agreement and the end of violence for good. Nobody should under-estimate the importance of that; that has its impact upon opinion, its impact upon opinion within Sinn Fein as well; provided that option remains rock solid – and I believe it will – then there is a very powerful impetus towards the move towards a settlement.

  • Mr Major’s Doorstep Interview in Belfast (II) – 14 December 1994

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s doorstep interview held after leaving the BT offices in Laganside, Belfast, on 14th December 1994.

    QUESTION:

    [Inaudible].

    PRIME MINISTER:

    The prospects are very promising indeed. I don’t expect people to commit themselves to huge investment while here today or tomorrow, but I think the atmosphere last night, the evidence of interest this morning, the sheer quality of the people who are here will lead to investment. I’m pretty confident we’ll get some.

    QUESTION:

    How disappointed are you in Sinn Fein’s attitude to the conference?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Well, I think it’s a shame because the purpose of the conference is to try and provide jobs for all the people in Northern Ireland, including those that Sinn Fein would say they represent. So I think it is very short-sighted of them.

    QUESTION:

    Do you think it has spoiled the conference in any way?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    No. Anyone who has been at the conference will know that it won’t. The atmosphere there is crackling. I have no doubt the conference is a success.

    QUESTION:

    Are you confident that the ceasefire will hold and Northern Ireland has a bright future ahead?

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Well I profoundly hope the ceasefire will hold and providing it does, providing they can carry the political process forward, and I’m very committed to that, then I think the prospects for Northern Ireland are very bright indeed. A Northern Ireland without violence hanging over it, as it has for the last 25 years, has everything that people would wish to see in terms of investment prospects. So, yes, I’m confident about its future.

  • Mr Major’s Speech in Belfast – 13 December 1994

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s speech in Belfast, held on Tuesday 13th December 1994.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    My Lord Mayor, My Lord Mayor of London, Mr Secretary, Mr Governor, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen.

    Can I firstly extend to you all the very warmest of welcomes but extend that welcome especially to those who have travelled very long distances indeed to be here on this occasion – to Secretary Brown and his very large and very welcome delegation from the United States; to Mr Cherin [phon] who has done such outstanding work in leading the European Commission’s Task Force; to Mr Bonner, representing the Irish government; to the Lord Mayor and many leading figures from British industry and finance; and to all the representatives of seven governments and 181 companies who are gathered here this evening for this particular occasion.

    I will have the opportunity tomorrow to speak about Northern Ireland’s economy at the forum, but I would like for a few moments this evening to sketch out a little of the background, including its international aspects.

    Though I daresay that perhaps a small number of you will be visiting Northern Ireland for the first time, many of you will have been here before, some of you will know Northern Ireland extremely well indeed, but I think whether you are old friends or new friends, you will experience on this visit an entirely different atmosphere right across Northern Ireland. You will I hope see a huge difference from the impressions formed in the past, from the impressions that so many people have had for so many years about what life was like here and what the prospects here were for the people who lived in Northern Ireland.

    We want on this occasion to show you the prospects in which you and your companies could play a part, to your advantage I hope, as well as for the benefit of Northern Ireland as a whole. I can promise you this from my frequent visits to Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland will welcome you with open arms, it will support you and it will do a fine job for you. And I do not frankly think you need take this just from me, ask the many businessmen and other representatives of Northern Ireland at this dinner and at the forum tomorrow, ask other investors who have already taken a substantial stake in Northern Ireland’s future.

    Let me say just a few words about the long pathway to this particular evening. When I became Prime Minister in 1990 I had four objectives for Northern Ireland. Progress in this province would be one of the highest priorities for the government. I agreed from the outset that we would oppose terrorism with all democratic means and would show the tiny minority – for that is what it has always been, the tiny majority engaged in that terrorism – that it would lead nowhere for them, except perhaps to imprisonment. But that of its own was not sufficient, we also needed to show those who supported terrorism precisely what it was that they were missing out on by that support, we would demonstrate that all legitimate aspirations could be pursued peacefully and pursued through the democratic process, that those who had excluded themselves from the process could be admitted to it, provided they abandoned violence, that with or without them that democratic process would move ahead. That was, in substance, the essence of the Downing Street declaration that Albert Reynolds and I signed a year or so ago, and of the government’s political talks with all the constitutional parties.

    I also felt that the British and the Irish governments should try and work together as never before. If we, the British and the Irish government, could reconcile our own differences without compromising our principles we might set an example for both sides of the community in Northern Ireland. We did so with the Downing Street declaration and we hope soon to take a further step by concluding a framework document to help the talks process. That was the course I set. Some would say, some did say rather optimistically, but we have now travelled a long way down that road and I would like you to know that whatever the difficulties that lie ahead, the British government’s commitment to those objectives will remain as strong as it has been from the outset.

    The support of other governments, the support of other countries, will be very significant to us and to the people of Northern Ireland for two reasons in particular. First, terrorism did not just happen in a vacuum, historic grievances were paraded at home and overseas to justify it, in some places during the Cold War ideological connections were made, funds were raised from East, from West, from South, guns and the most deadly explosives were procured. It is crucially important that people around the world should now appreciate precisely what has changed and what has changed most dramatically in the last twelve months or so.

    The Northern Ireland of today, the Northern Ireland of tomorrow, the Northern Ireland that our guests will see on this visit is not the Northern Ireland of 25 or 50 years ago. Northern Ireland today has some of the most stringent measures for fair employment and community relations to be found anywhere in the world, there is a general recognition that a fair deal must be offered to all. But the future of this province depends on healing those rifts which in the past tore Northern Ireland asunder for all too many years.

    Sinn Fein and the political representatives of Loyalism have declared that they wish to enter the political arena as peaceful democratic parties. It is a declaration that people across the communities in Northern Ireland had longed for for more years than they care to remember. And so Sinn Fein and the political representatives of Loyalism are now beginning an historic dialogue with the government about how this should come about and how their weapons and explosives may be safely taken out of commission.

    The overwhelming majority of the people of Northern Ireland seek peace, and as you will see on this visit they are now enjoying peace. I do not myself believe that they would have any sympathy with any group who sought to disturb that peace again. I hope that equally strong pressure to make peace irreversible will come from outside Northern Ireland. People overseas who take an interest in its affairs, wherever their sympathies may lie should continue to speak up for peace, as so many have done to such good effect in the months immediately past.

    They should make clear that there will be no sympathy, and not a shred of justification or support, for any group were any group to return to the violent ways of the past. If I may say so to our guests this evening, by your very presence here tonight you are giving that signal and I am grateful to you. But more important perhaps, I believe all the people of Northern Ireland, on both sides of the community, will be equally grateful to you for that particular signal.

    Secondly this evening I would ask you to look at the economic prospects for Northern Ireland with open eyes. A quarter of a century of terrorism inevitably held back Northern Ireland’s development. Today, whether you are from Britain, the Irish Republic, from other parts of the European Union, from the United States or from the Far East, you can be in right at the beginning of a very remarkable and exciting new phase in Northern Ireland.

    As I shall explain in more detail tomorrow, you can reap the rewards of coming into that new phase very early indeed. I am not asking you to be anything less than hard headed about your business decisions, I would not expect this and I do not believe anyone in Northern Ireland would either. I would only ask you to recognise that here in Northern Ireland there is a society positively bursting with the desire to succeed, to put the past behind it and to exploit its undoubted potential. It is a society which as I think you can see from the many success stories that are apparent today, has achieved a huge amount despite the unprecedented difficulties it faced from the troubles that there have been over the last quarter of a century. Their endeavour to succeed, the endeavour to succeed of all the people of Northern Ireland, has the whole-hearted backing of the British government and of the European Union, and very strong and immensely welcome support from the governments of the United States and other countries.

    We intend to consolidate peace, to consolidate peace by showing what each and every person in Northern Ireland may gain from such a peace. Already, after just a few short weeks and months, the evidence is all around us: in this fine hotel, a hotel which has now shed the scars of past attacks; in other hotels now filling their rooms for the first time in many years; at the airports where extra services and new routes are beginning to appear; and in streets crowded with Christmas shoppers, many coming in record numbers from Dublin and elsewhere in the Republic.

    Ladies and Gentlemen, the government’s vision for Northern Ireland is very clear, very straightforward. There is no equivocation about it, nothing [indistinct] in any way, it is a vision in which both main communities will be able to feel comfortable and threatened by none, where both communities will feel that their aspirations and their identities are recognised and respected as legitimate, where both communities will recognise that they have more in common both by way of history and challenges than separates them, and where perhaps, above all, they have a fair and equitable stake in growing prosperity fairly distributed right across Northern Ireland.

    I am grateful to you this evening for leaving your homes and your offices to come here, at very short notice, for what I know is a very busy Christmas season. I strongly suspect that there is probably nowhere in the world where Christmas will be celebrated more joyously than it will here in Northern Ireland this Christmas. Nowhere will those traditional greetings that we have grown up with and know and love so much, nowhere will the traditional greetings of peace and goodwill have a deeper meaning than they will this year, this Christmas, in this part of Northern Ireland. It will mean for them a great deal.

    With your help this evening, the people who are here, I believe that at long last this season of peace can mark the beginnings of a peace for all seasons in Northern Ireland, for all seasons, for all people, for all time – that is the objective that we are seeking, it is an objective that we have in our grasp if we have the courage, the fortitude and the luck to carry through to conclusion the work that has begun over the past few years. I hope and I believe that we may be able to achieve it and if we are we will be able to look back from that happy time to this occasion this evening and you will be able to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your presence here this evening, and at this conference tomorrow, will have played an important part in securing that peace for Northern Ireland and that future for all its citizens.

    You are very welcome indeed, thank you for being here.

  • Mr Major’s Joint Statement with Albert Reynolds – 19 February 1994

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s joint statement with the Irish Prime Minister, Albert Reynolds, held outside Downing Street on Saturday 19th February 1994.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    We have had a very useful discussion this morning. We thought the opportunity of our joint attendance at Twickenham this afternoon was a suitable opportunity to take stock of where we are. We have had a very useful review this morning of where we stand both on the Joint Declaration and on the continuing talks process.

    Let me make it quite clear at the outset that we are wholly united in our approach, wholly united in our determination to proceed to try and find a solution to the problems of Northern Ireland. We see the Joint Declaration as a foundation stone for the future approach of both governments; we are committed to it, we believe it has lasting value and we see it as a balanced statement of principles for the future. It is our judgement that its value has already been clearly shown in the way in which it has been received both in Ireland and abroad.

    It is of course impossible for either of us to say whether the Provisionals will decide to give up violence in the near future.

    What we are utterly agreed about is that there is no justification for the continuance of violence either by the Provisionals or Indeed by anybody else. What must be fully understood is that we are not waiting for the Provisionals or for anybody else. We have taken further steps in the talks process and we have this morning reaffirmed our joint commitment to that process. No-one should be able to veto progress on the talks.

    We have made clear what Sinn Fein needs to do to join the constitutional process; they are free to come in, they are free to stay out if that is what they choose but what they can’t do is hold up our determination to continue with the talks process and endeavour to find a solution.
    We have agreed this morning that we will continue to cooperate closely on security and do all we can to oppose terrorism and I would like to say that the improved security cooperation between the Garda and the security forces in Northern Ireland has been of immense help over recent years and that is going to continue.

    The intention that we both have is peace. We would like it soon but however long it takes, our determination is to continue a search for that peace. We believe that is what the people of Northern Ireland wish to see, what the people in the Republic wish to see and what people in other parts of the world, including the United Kingdom, wish to see. We have no intention of surrendering any of our principles to violence. Those principles are clearly set down in the Joint Declaration and we reaffirm them very firmly this morning.

    PRIME MINISTER REYNOLDS:

    We had a very cordial and fruitful meeting here this morning. The match did give us an opportunity of coming together two months after the Peace Declaration was published here in Downing Street on 15 December. It is a declaration that both of us and both governments are fully committed to; it is a declaration that will endure; it is indeed a formula for peace because it sets out the principles on which a lasting peace can be built. We aim to take that Peace Declaration and make it the anchor for the resumption of the three-stranded talks process; they will be grounded on the sets of principles that are outlined in the Peace Declaration.

    We want to proceed with those as soon as possible; we never saw them in competition with each other, we see them as complementing each other and we believe that a very solid basis has been agreed upon in the Joint Declaration that has commanded widespread support not just in these islands but indeed throughout the world as well. Indeed, the Irish people at home and abroad fully subscribe and support the Peace Declaration and believe, like us, that there is no justification for continuing with violence once those sets of principles are laid out there for everybody to see and for every to participate in. We deplore and condemn violence and death from wherever it comes and we deplore the seeming resumption in some quarters of the violence that has indeed plagued our island for the last twenty-five years.

    This is a new hope, a new direction to provide the opportunity to get a lasting peace in Ireland and a broad-based agreement based on the sets of principles that we agreed on here on 15 December, We will continue at a very high level our very successful cooperation in relation to the security arrangements between North and South and between our two governments and I think that they have served us well and they will be kept up to speed on both sides.

    I haven’t anything further to add to what the Prime Minister has laid out very clearly here about where we come from, where we are at this morning and where we go on from here.

    QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

    QUESTION (Robin Oakley, BBC):

    Have you agreed on a deadline for Sinn Fein’s response to the Downing Street Declaration of December?

    PRIME MINISTER MAJOR:

    It wasn’t a question of deadlines because the Joint Declaration is a permanent foundation stone, it isn’t a question of having an artificial deadline. The point is that the response from Sinn Fein is not holding up the three-stranded talks process and the other cooperation between the two governments so there is no question of having an artificial deadline that everything must wait upon. The other developments towards a settlement in Northern Ireland are continuing, we have been discussing them this morning.

    QUESTION:

    What happened on the question of the resumption of the talks process?

    PRIME MINISTER REYNOLDS:

    We have agreed that our officials will continue to talk and indeed have a liaison meeting very shortly and that the British Government will continue their talks with the various parties.

    There will be a liaison meeting before the next Anglo-Irish Conference, the officials will be agreeing that date today before they leave.

    QUESTION:

    On the resumption of the talks, have you agreed a date?

    PRIME MINISTER REYNOLDS:

    No, we have to get the work finished in the Liaison Committee first before the opportunity is there to resume the talks process.

    PRIME MINISTER MAJOR:

    What we have agreed this morning is that the work that is necessary should go ahead speedily and our officials will agree a date for them to reassemble later on today probably.

    PRIME MINISTER REYNOLDS:

    What it is important to remember is that the talks process goes ahead.

    QUESTION:

    I wondered what your response was to the rash of fire-bombing in London this morning that were obviously timed to coincide with your meeting.

    PRIME MINISTER MAJOR:

    I think our response to that is entirely identical. There is absolutely no justification for those fire bombs overnight any more than there is any justification for the murder of the community police officer last week or the other atrocities that have taken place in Northern Ireland from both sides. There is no justification for it.

    There is a route now open for Sinn Fein to join the constitutional process. They know what they have to do. All they have got to do is decide that they will give up violence and then they have a proper route to express their views constitutionally so we share an outrage at what happened overnight.

    PRIME MINISTER REYNOLDS:

    We do absolutely but we also recognise that this was always going to be a difficult process, the road to peace was always going to be difficult and there would always be people in the paramilitaries on both sides indeed that would be trying to stop the best efforts that we can make in relation to it but we will not be put off by this type of violence and by this type of destruction that takes place. We will continue along that difficult road, recognising that people are going to try and frustrate our efforts but they will not succeed.

  • Mr Major’s Letter to Gerry Adams – 20 January 1994

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s letter to Gerry Adams, dated the 20th January 1994. The letter was written on behalf of John Major and signed by Roderic Lyne. The letter was issued to the press on the same day.

    [Dear Mr Adams,]

    The Prime Minister has asked me to reply to the letter dated 7 January which, though unsigned, is on your headed notepaper.

    As you know, the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach made their Joint Declaration on 15 December. It is the responsibility of the two Governments and reflected intensive work between them in the preceding weeks.

    Your letter seeks to reopen issues for renegotiation by pointing back to a position you say the Irish Government put forward in June last year. Both the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach have made clear that there can be no question of renegotiation of their Joint Declaration. It provides a balanced framework for peace and democracy which recognises the interests and aspirations of both main traditions that exist in Ireland. That text, and only that text, is what is at issue.

    You announced that you were writing to the Prime Minister. In the circumstances, the Prime Minister has decided to make this letter and that received from your office publicly available.

    [Yours sincerely]
    [Roderick Lyne]

  • PMQT – 13 January 1994

    Below is the text of Prime Minister’s Question Time from 13th January 1994.

    PRIME MINISTER:

     

    Engagements

    Q1. Mrs. Gillan : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 13 January.

    The Prime Minister (Mr. John Major) : This morning, I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.

    Mrs. Gillan : Does my right hon. Friend agree that the statement by Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein calling for the clarification of the Downing street declaration is just a sickening attempt by the IRA’s apologists to shuffle the responsibility for their evil campaign of terror and fear? Is it not time that they faced up to their responsibilities and grasped the challenge of adopting the democratic path?

    The Prime Minister : I think that my hon. Friend speaks for many millions of people in this country and throughout the island of Ireland. I welcome in particular the recent statement by the hon. Member for Foyle (Mr. Hume), making clear that he sees no excuse whatever for continuing violence and appealing for people to devote themselves exclusively to the democratic process. As the Taoiseach and I have made clear on a number of occasions, the joint declaration is not an invitation for renegotiation. My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and I have gone to great lengths in this House and beyond it to ensure that the joint declaration is fully understood and we shall, of course, continue to do so. We still await a positive response from the IRA.

    Mr. John Smith : Will the Prime Minister unequivocally condemn the gerrymandering and wilful misconduct which has cost £21 million of taxpayers’ money in what his party has described as a flagship council?

    The Prime Minister : Let me say unequivocally to the right hon. and learned Gentleman that if the reported allegations about the council turn out to be true, of course I condemn such activities just as I would condemn malpractice in any council, wherever it occurred. It would be wrong to comment on this case while the auditor is still considering it. The auditor operates independently of Government, has full powers to pursue his inquiries and I have no doubt that he will continue to use them to the full. We should wait and see precisely what the outcome may be. Otherwise, we are in danger of assuming that people have committed malpractice until they are proved innocent. I would think that the right hon. and learned Gentleman, who is a barrister, would recognise that that is no way to pass judgment.

    Mr. John Smith : Does the Prime Minister recollect the frequent endorsements that he and his colleagues have offered to Westminster city council, in particular the comment by the Secretary of State for Employment, that Westminster council was one of the Tory’s stunning successes and a source of cheer for every Conservative? Taking everything into account, does the Prime Minister think that those endorsements were wholly wise?

    The Prime Minister : I have just made it perfectly clear to the whole House that the district auditor’s report contains a number of serious allegations. At this stage, they are allegations. There is now a perfectly proper legal process by which the allegations will be examined in depth and the truth arrived at. The district auditor has been at pains to stress that his findings are provisional. I think that the right hon. and learned Gentleman should wait until those findings are confirmed before he is so swift to judge.

    Mr. John Smith : Does not the Prime Minister appreciate that the matter has now been investigated for four years, and what is revealed is a devastating example of financial corruption and an abuse of power by senior members of the Conservative party? Cannot he at least condemn that?

    The Prime Minister : I have already made it clear that if the allegations are confirmed, I will condemn unreservedly. But, as has been made entirely clear, this is the start of the legal process. Unlike the right hon. and learned Gentleman, most people will prefer to wait until that is completed and not find people guilty until and unless they are proven to be guilty. That is a cardinal principle of British law which I commend to the right hon. and learned Gentleman.

     

    Q2. Dr. Spink : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 13 January.

    The Prime Minister : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave some moments ago.

    Dr. Spink : Will my right hon. Friend join me in welcoming yesterday’s sharp fall in unemployment? Does he recall that one year ago the hon. Member for Dunfermline, East (Mr. Brown) predicted that unemployment would rise month after month? Therefore, will my right hon. Friend invite the hon. Gentleman to make another such prediction?

    The Prime Minister : Most people would probably settle not for another prediction but for an admission from the hon. Gentleman that he got it wrong again and again and again. I very much welcome yesterday’s fall in unemployment, which means that the number of unemployed people has fallen by nearly a quarter of a million over the past year. Of course, it is still too high, but the fall of nearly 47,000 on top of the falls in recent months suggests that we are now seeing a continuing downward trend in the level of unemployment. We are the only western European nation to have low inflation, an economy that is growing and unemployment that is falling significantly.

    Mr. Ashdown : Does– [Interruption.]

    Madam Speaker : Order. The House must come to order. There is impossibly bad behaviour today.

    Mr. Ashdown : Does Lord Justice Scott still enjoy the confidence of the Prime Minister?

    The Prime Minister : It was the Government who set up the inquiry and gave Lord Justice Scott the freedom to pursue it as he thinks fit. I have no adverse comments to make on the way that he is doing it.

    Mr. Streeter : Does my right hon. Friend join me in welcoming the £20 million contract won by Plymouth-based British Aerospace (Systems and Equipment) Ltd. in December, further boosted by a share in the £50 million contract announced by the Ministry of Defence yesterday? Is that not a fine illustration of defence contracts boosting and sustaining British jobs? Can my right hon. Friend confirm that if the Liberal policy on defence were followed, those defence jobs would simply not exist and many people in the west country would be out of work?

    The Prime Minister : I am, of course, delighted at the contracts to which my hon. Friend refers. It is certainly the case that if the reductions in defence expenditure advocated by the right hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Ashdown) or, indeed, the Leader of the Opposition were carried into force, the implications not only for our capacity to defend ourselves but for British industry, not least in the west country, would be very profound. It would be a reassuring change if the Leader of the Liberal party were to say the same thing in the west country as he says elsewhere.

     

    London Hospitals

    Q3. Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Prime Minister what plans he has to make an official visit to a London national health service hospital.

    The Prime Minister : I shall be making a series of visits around the country, during which I intend to include NHS hospitals, as I have in the past.

    Mr. Corbyn : In his visits around the country, will the Prime Minister undertake to explain to Londoners why more than 150,000 people are on hospital waiting lists? Beds are being closed and wards are being taken out of operation, and one night in Bart’s hospital more than 30 people had to sleep on floors or on trolleys because there was not sufficient space for them. Are not the Prime Minister’s policies of the internal market leading to more and more closures and losses of bed space as the crisis and the chaos get worse? Is not it time for him to intervene to scrap the internal market and give Londoners the health service which they need, deserve and demand? Is not that a basic right?

    The Prime Minister : We are certainly seeking to give Londoners the health service which they deserve. In addition, we are seeking to improve dramatically primary health care in the capital and that has been evident for some time.

    The hon. Gentleman neglected to mention in his catalogue the dramatic reductions in the times which patients wait for hospital treatment. Since the reforms have been implemented, the number of patients who have been waiting for more than a year has fallen from around 120,000 to just over 70,000, and that figure is on a declining trend. The hon. Gentleman will know of expenditure which has been made in his own area’s district health authority. He ought not to underestimate the work that is being done to improve the health service for all the people who live in London.

     

    Engagements

    Q4. Mr. Milligan : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 13 January.

    The Prime Minister : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. Milligan : Is my right hon. Friend aware of the work that is being done in Eastleigh to develop a safer door lock for trains? Such a lock could have averted some of the 300 deaths which have occurred during the past 20 years when passengers have fallen out of trains. Will the Government encourage British Rail to invest in the new technology which would not only save lives on the railways but would also save jobs in my constituency?

    The Prime Minister : My hon. Friend may know that British Rail is actively considering the technical feasibility and the cost-effectiveness of the system to which he refers. I know how important the decision is for my hon. Friend, and I know how hard he has worked on behalf of his constituents. British Rail is examining the matter at the moment.

    Mr. Kaufman : On November 10 1992, the Prime Minister, together with the Attorney-General, announced the appointment of Lord Justice Scott to conduct his inquiry. Will the Prime Minister now express his full confidence that Lord Justice Scott is conducting the inquiry fairly, particularly since he is due shortly to appear before Lord Justice Scott? Is the Prime Minister confident that he will be treated fairly by Lord Justice Scott? Will the Prime Minister repudiate the scurrilous attack on Lord Justice Scott by Lord Howe?

    The Prime Minister : I know that it has been a quite noisy House this afternoon, but I seem to recall answering that question a few moments ago. I will reiterate to the right hon. Gentleman that the Government appointed Lord Justice Scott to conduct an independent inquiry. It is therefore for him to draw up his own procedures and it is not a matter for the Government to comment on those procedures. I have no adverse comments to make upon those procedures, as I indicated a few moments ago.

     

    Q5. Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 13 January.

    The Prime Minister : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave some moments ago.

    Mr. John Marshall : Does my right hon. Friend agree that the continued incarceration of Ron Arad is quite unacceptable? Will he give the House an assurance that the Government will maintain their efforts to secure his freedom?

    The Prime Minister : I can certainly give that assurance, and we will continue to support efforts to free Mr. Arad. We have raised the case on innumerable occasions with the Iranians, the Syrians and with any others who may be able to help. On his visit to Israel earlier this month, the Foreign Secretary met members of Mr. Arad’s family and assured them that we will continue to do what we can to help. My right hon. Friend gave them our warm sympathy for the pain and suffering which they must feel at present.

    Mr. Beggs : Will the Prime Minister give us an assurance today that whether or not the Prime Minister of the Irish Republic proceeds to interpret, elaborate, explain or, indeed, encourage Sinn Fein-IRA to respond to the Downing street declaration, he will stand by it and that he expects members of Sinn Fein-IRA to cease their campaign completely and indicate that they will lay down their arms so that they can enter the democratic process?

    The Prime Minister : I certainly wish to see them unreservedly and permanently end violence and then enter into exploratory talks that can lead to them taking part in the democratic process. I reiterate again : we are not in the business of clarifying the declaration. The declaration is clear. What is intended by Mr. Adams in his present activities is to seek bit by bit to draw the Government into negotiation upon the joint declaration. That is not on offer to Mr. Adams now. It will not be on offer to Mr. Adams in the future. If he wishes to enter into discussions, he knows how he may do it. He can decide to give up violence. After three months he can enter into exploratory talks. Then he will be able to enter into the democratic talks process itself. That is the route ahead. The only question that needs to be asked is not of the British Government or the Irish Government but of Mr. Adams. Will he stop the violence and enter the democratic process or will he not? Everything else is fudge.

  • Mr Major’s Statement on Northern Ireland – 4 January 1994

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s statement issued on 4th January 1994.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    The Joint Declaration which Albert Reynolds and I agreed in Downing Street nearly three weeks ago sets out a clear challenge to the provisional movement, If they renounce violence – for good – and show they mean it, then Sinn Fein have the clear prospect of entering into the talks process with the other constitutional parties. But the onus is on them. They must choose whether they have the courage to end violence and enter into democratic politics. If they decide to continue their campaign of violence, they will do so in the knowledge that they are isolated and will face opposition from the two governments, from all the constitutional parties in Northern Ireland, and from the overwhelming majority of the people of Northern Ireland.

    I very much hope that the provisional movement will see sense and renounce violence. Regrettably, they have not yet done so. They continue to seek “clarification” of the Joint Declaration – a tactic which should be seen for what it is: an increasingly desperate attempt to avoid facing up to the clear choice that confronts them. And, after a brief pause over Christmas, the IRA have continued their campaign of violence, as the murder of a young soldier in Crossmaglen last week reminded us only too clearly, together with the attempted murders and firebombs over the weekend.

    The provisionals face this choice at a time when there is increasing determination among the people of Northern Ireland to end 25 years of violence and see peace restored. Over recent months, both Patrick Mayhew and I have had many talks with political leaders from Northern Ireland, with churchmen, with community leaders, with businessmen and with many others. I have had an opportunity in three recent visits to Northern Ireland to meet a wide variety of people. All these contacts will continue. I have been impressed and heartened by the support we have had for our efforts to work for peace and for a political settlement. That encouraged me in the negotiations with the Irish government over the Joint Declaration. If we all continue to work together, we can keep the momentum going.

    The Joint Declaration sets out the framework for bringing about peace and reconciliation. In the name of both governments it restates in unequivocal terms the fundamental principles and guarantees that mean so much to all sides of the community in both parts of Ireland. In terms more comprehensive than ever before it sets out the philosophy which underpins the actions of both governments. It places great emphasis on the need to respect the different traditions of the communities in Northern Ireland.

    I understand the concerns of those in Northern Ireland who are cautious when faced with an initiative of this sort. But I strongly believe that when they read the Joint Declaration – as I hope everyone will do – they will find that the interests of all communities are fully recognised and protected. Suggestions that the document is a sell-out to one set of interests or another are nonsense. Not only does the Declaration repeat in the clearest possible terms the British Government’s commitment to Northern Ireland’s constitutional guarantee – that no change can come about without the consent of the greater number of people of Northern Ireland – but it also sets out the Irish Government’s acceptance of that principle, while no less importantly recognising nationalist ideals.

    The fact that the Declaration has the full support of the British and Irish Governments should make it clear to all that there is no way forward except through the democratic process. There is no place for terrorism, whether loyalist or republican. There is nothing that the men of violence, whatever cause they may claim to represent, can seriously believe they are able to achieve. They have achieved nothing worthwhile in 25 years of violence, and would achieve nothing worthwhile if it were to continue for another 25 years.

    But with a permanent end to violence, and a commitment to the democratic process, Sinn Fein can enter into exploratory dialogue within three months. Without a permanent end to violence, the terrorists and their supporters will be isolated, with the British and Irish Governments and all the constitutional parties in Northern Ireland united against them.

    Isolated, while the rest of us get on with our agenda for bringing about a political settlement via the talks process I am determined that, come what may, we will pursue those talks with renewed vigour. The Taoiseach and I have already reaffirmed our support for the objectives of the talks process, involving political dialogue between the two governments and the main constitutional parties in Northern Ireland. That is the three stranded approach which made such progress in 1992: we must now make it a priority to reach agreement in 1994.

    Strand 1 of the talks is concerned with setting up new forms of government within Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland needs a form of government that people can identify with, and where they can participate. A form of government that is fully accountable and commands support in all sections of the community. We are determined to restore properly based local democracy in Northern Ireland.

    Strand 2 of the talks concerns relations between Northern Ireland and the South. I know there has been fear and suspicion that these parts of the talks involve giving the South a direct role in the internal affairs of Northern Ireland. They do not. It would be extraordinary if, as part of an overall political agreement, two countries sharing a border on an island did not look for ways to work together where that made sense to both. We each have so much to gain from co-operation across the border. That is what paragraph 9 of the Joint Declaration means when it talks of the two governments and the constitutional parties in Northern Ireland creating through a process of political dialogue “institutions and structures which, while respecting the diversity of the people of Ireland, would enable them to work together in all areas of common interest”.

    I am under no illusion that it will prove easy to reach agreement on all these issues. But there is now a clear will on all sides to try to do so. And there is a positive benefit in the large task we have set ourselves. It is that once agreement is reached, it will be comprehensive, leaving no room for uncertainties or concerns about hidden agendas – uncertainties that can breed doubt, fear and instability. The prize at the end of the process is great: so great that we are all determined to succeed.

    The prize lies not just in a political solution. But also in the economic transformation that that in turn would bring. Northern Ireland is already well placed to benefit from the economic upturn that is taking hold throughout the United Kingdom. But the prospect of long term political stability would bring renewed confidence in Northern Ireland as a site for inward investment, as a destination for tourism. Confidence that would itself encourage existing firms to invest and to expand. Confidence that would help accelerate a reduction in unemployment. There are huge opportunities, and great international goodwill.

    So the British Government will continue to work towards achieving both peace and political reform in Northern Ireland. The opportunity is there. But at the same time, while terrorism continues, we will use every means we can to defeat it and bring those responsible to justice. The police and armed forces in Northern Ireland perform a difficult job with great skill, courage and sacrifice. They will continue to have our full support and backing in upholding the law and protecting the community.

    We will continue to work for peace. But not peace at any price: there will be no departure from the fundamental principles we hold to – in particular that change in Northern Ireland can only come about with the consent of the greater number of the people. The Joint Declaration makes it clear that it is above all for the people of Northern Ireland to shape their future. There is now a framework which reflects the concerns and aspirations of both sides of the community. It is a framework that can shape a better future for Northern Ireland in 1994. Peace is there for the taking.