Northern justice minister row escalates
A row between Ulster Unionists and Northern Secretary Peter Hain over plans for a Stormont justice minister escalated tonight as the party published the British government’s proposal on the internet.
Ulster Unionist leader Reg Empey has claimed that the document proves that Mr Hain was intending to impose a justice minister on the Assembly in May 2008.
This has been denied by British government sources.
Empey said: “The public should be offered the opportunity to cut through the triple lock spin of the Democratic Unionist Party and read for themselves that in the absence of agreement on the policing issue, government would impose the devolution of policing and justice as well as the minister concerned.
“The proposal amounts to a ministerial directive and holds out the very real prospect of a Sinn Féin minister of policing and justice by May 2008, regardless and in spite of DUP claims of a triple lock on the issue.”
The East Belfast Assembly member continued: “The government has comprehensively outmanoeuvred the DUP negotiators and confirmed the imposition of the devolution of justice within the timescale set out at St Andrews, namely in March 2008.”
According to the letter published today on the Ulster Unionist website, Mr Hain proposed on December 28 to the Transitional Assembly’s policing and justice sub-committee that there would be one justice department with a senior minister and a deputy minister, who would be elected by cross-community vote.
The Ulster Unionists highlight one key paragraph, which reads: “If there was no successful election within the time frame set out at St Andrews, the government would take any necessary steps to ensure that the timescale for devolution was not delayed.
"This includes the appointment of a justice minister and, to ensure cross-community representation, a deputy justice minister.”
Peter Robinson, the Democratic Unionist deputy leader, yesterday warned that the imposition of a justice minister on the Stormont Assembly by the British government would sound the death knell for devolution in the North.
The East Belfast MP said that his party would not accept the move.
For the second night running, British government sources insisted that, in his paper to the Assembly policing and justice sub-group, Mr Hain had not suggested that he would impose a minister.
One source said tonight: “It could not realistically happen, the imposition of a minister would be so far outside the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
“Who would accept a secretary of state coming in at any stage and imposing the minister?
“The paper the secretary of state submitted was designed to break the stalemate on policing and justice. It is yet to be discussed by the sub-group.
“It is not legislation and is only a discussion document.
“What the secretary of state has proposed is a system where the Assembly would elect a justice minister from 2008 to 2011 on a cross-community vote. Effectively, that means a self-denying ordinance for Sinn Féin and the DUP.
“He has put that paper to the sub-group because he believes it can work. It can produce a minister who would command support in both communities.
“Rather than suggest that in the event of no minister being elected the government will impose one, we have held out the possibility that, as a contingency, the Assembly could ask the secretary of state to appoint someone.
“People should be careful not to read things into this paper that are not what is being proposed."
