Northern Ireland Questions: Loyalist Decommissioning
4th November 2009
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown asks the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how he will encourage loyalist paramilitaries to participate in the decommissioning process before the amnesty ends in February.
Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswold) (Con): What recent progress has been made on loyalist decommissioning; and if he will make a statement. [296670]
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Shaun Woodward): The House will note the report from the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, which was placed in the Library last month and which records very significant acts of decommissioning by loyalist groups. The House will also know from my right hon. Friend the Minister of State that the decommissioning order will end unequivocally on 9 February next year.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: The Secretary of State has made clear that the amnesty will end in February. That being so, what more can he do to encourage loyalist paramilitaries to participate in the decommissioning process so that it can be completed once and for all? Will he also make clear that those who break the law can expect the full rigour of the law to come down upon them, and that they will face due process?
Mr. Woodward: The answer to the hon. Gentleman’s second question is yes. As for his first question, we are making that requirement clear. That is why we are, I believe, making substantial progress on decommissioning, although we expect more.