The speech which follows was delivered by Alistair Lexden in a debate on Northern Ireland in the House of Lords on 14 September.
I speak, as always, as an unwavering supporter of Northern Ireland’s role within our country, which is of such importance to us all.
Exactly a century ago, a new Unionist prime minister took office at Westminster. In May 1923 Andrew Bonar Law was forced to resign because of the cancer that was to kill him the following October. The new Unionist prime minister was Stanley Baldwin.
Bonar Law, the only British prime minister with an Ulster family background, had devoted himself to protecting the interests of the newly created Northern Ireland. Baldwin was no less diligent.
Bonar Law had ensured that Northern Ireland had the resources and support it needed to defeat the murderous assault that the IRA mounted against it in 1922. Baldwin helped to safeguard Northern Ireland’s territorial integrity when an independent Commission considered whether its boundaries should be revised.
Unionism is more important than Conservatism. I rather wish the party had retained the name that it used proudly a century ago instead of elevating its Conservative element. As the Unionist party it would have retained, at its very heart, an overriding sense of responsibility for the varied interests of all parts of the Union.
It is unlikely that Mr Boris Johnson would have become leader of an organisation called the Unionist party since he cared nothing for the Union—as he showed with his infamous betrayal of Northern Ireland four years ago, the immediate cause of the discontents and difficulties that have assailed our fellow countrymen and women in Northern Ireland ever since.
It is evident that the Government do not believe that all the difficulties and discontents will be brought to an end through the restoration of the devolved assembly and executive. It will represent just the beginnings of their resolution.
Acute financial problems, highlighted in the legislation before us today, will have to be overcome if Northern Ireland is to have the fully functioning executive to which reference is so often made—fully functioning in the sense that it works efficiently and successfully.
Speaking in the Second Reading debate on this Bill in the Commons on 10 July, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland said: “successive former Executives have failed to make the strategic decisions required to put the public finances on a sustainable basis.”
It is of course the duty of our national leaders to ensure that the public finances of Northern Ireland gain the stability that good government within the Union requires.
The task is a very formidable one. Earlier this year we were helped to understand why by the noble Baroness, Lady Foster—a personal friend from a long ago when I was closely involved in an organisation called the Friends of the Union.
Speaking on 7 February, Lady Foster said: “no Sinn Fein Minister of Finance has ever succeeded in presenting a Budget which other parties could support”. She went on: “Finance Ministers have to look for support and consensus on the Budget that they bring forward. Every other coalition Finance Minister was able to achieve that, but no Sinn Fein Minister was able to.”
Have Sinn Fein turned over a new leaf since then? Have they undertaken to observe the financial disciplines that are essential for good government?
I sometimes think that in this House we give insufficient attention to the stresses and strains that the involvement of Sinn Fein creates in the administration of Northern Ireland. It is not a conventional political party at all. It is part of a movement dedicated to achieving, by one means or other, the dismemberment of our Union.
The successful administration of Northern Ireland’s public affairs is unlikely to hold much appeal for Sinn Fein. It is dedicated to the destruction of Northern Ireland.
Every Unionist will always insist that Northern Ireland must enjoy all the benefits of being part of our Union. I listened the other day to my noble friend, Lord Markham, our Health Minister, touch on the importance of change within the NHS. He said: “ Without a doubt, we have to make productivity improvements and look to technology, AI and all the things we can do to improve output.”
I thought to myself Northern Ireland must have these things too. In fact, there is no part of our country where they are needed more than in Northern Ireland where the health service has suffered so seriously in recent years.
It is tragic to think that health and the other great public services immediately cease to have democratic oversight when devolution falters .Elsewhere in the Union these services form part of local government. In Northern Ireland alone they have been merged with the devolved institutions.
It is axiomatic among Unionists that Northern Ireland should enjoy good relations with the Republic of Ireland in the interests of them both. But it is important, if good relations are to be maintained, that the Union is given proper respect at all times by Irish politicians.
That is surely incompatible with the suggestion which has been made recently that the Irish Government should be given an enhanced role in the affairs of Northern Ireland, including consultation over its budget.
Perhaps this extraordinary suggestion reflects Mr Varadkar’s belief that Ireland is “on the path to reunification”. That republican delusion is nothing new, but its repetition at a time when great efforts are being made to restore the devolved institutions in Northern jeopardises the good relations which Unionists want.
