THE British Prime Minister, Mr John Major, angrily denounced the SDLP leader Mr John Humes accusation that his proposals for elections in Northern Ireland were an attempt to "buy votes" and secure his government's future, during a debate on the Mitchell report yesterday at the House of Commons in London.
As Tory MPs booed and jeered, Mr Hume challenged Mr Major to set a date for all party talks now rather than "waste" another 17 months. "Could I asked if you agree with me that it would be utterly irresponsible for any party to play politics with the lives of those people [in Northern Ireland] and it would be particularly irresponsible for a government to try to buy votes in the House to keep itself in power," he asked.
To Tory shouts of "disgraceful", Mr Hume retorted "I live there, you don't," before adding that the SDLP "fully and unequivocally" supported the six principles in the Mitchell report.
Would you agree that this commission does not recommend any form of election, that the proposal was outside its remit . . if all parties commit themselves to those principles, then that would allow you to fix the date for all party talks," he demanded.
Clearly angry by the accusation, Mr Major said if he had simply wanted to secure his government's position, he would not have become involved in Northern Ireland. "It would be a tragedy of enormous proportions if you were to put a barrier at this stage into progress towards a peace in Northern Ireland. When you talk about buying votes in this House, if I had been concerned about short term electoral matters on this issue I would probably not have embarked upon this process in the first place.
"From the outset of this process I have made it clear, and I believe from time to time I have taken risks in order to demonstrate it is clear, that what I care about is trying to prevent the killing, the bloodshed, the hatred, the abuse and the sheer nastiness that has dominated too much of life for British citizens in Northern Ireland over far too many years," he stated.
Pausing as his backbenchers cheered, Mr Major said "I am prepared to take risks for that, I am not prepared to buy votes for that."
After repeating his party's bipartisan approach to the peace process, the Labour leader, Mr Tony Blair, described the Mitchell report as "constructive and helpful" but said it left many difficult questions unanswered.
Mr Blair agreed Mr Major's proposal for an elected assembly deserved "serious consideration" and insisted that his party would support any necessary legislation in the House. "As each day passes, the benefits of peace in Northern Ireland become clearer. Though formidable obstacles remain, of course they do, peace is the only sane path to take for the future. We have, and we do again today, offer our unqualified support in pursuing it he said.
The Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, welcomed Mr Major's proposals and after stressing he was confident that he could ease the SDLP's suspicions over the assembly, he suggested that the elections could take place in the spring.
"It is our belief that those problems can be overcome if there is the necessary will. The necessary legislation could be carried through the House very quickly and we ought to set for ourselves the target of elections in April and May of this year so that the elected body can get down to work as soon as possible, and so open the way both to decommissioning and to substantive negotiations," he said.
The Democratic Unionist Deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, echoed this view, pledging his party's commitment to work with Mr Major towards electing the body. "I see no other route than the one I have outlined unless there is to be decommissioning prior to talks. That of course, would remove the need for the elected group" he added.
However, the SDLP's deputy leader, Mr Seamus Mallon, warned Mr Major that his proposals were against the views of Mr Mitchell and the Irish Government. "You are creating a situation where the type of consensus will not be there because you are odds with the people with whom you should be working," he argued. But Mr Major said his main concern was to ensure there was enough confidence in the peace process for all party talks.
"We have to get everybody to the table to advance. The purpose of these elections is not to produce something that is going to return to the concerns the nationalist community have had in the past, it is to enable a process to take place to ensure there is democratic mandate for negotiations," he said.
Although the former shadow Northern Ireland secretary, Mr Kevin McNamara, asked whether the Taoiseach had agreed to the proposal, Mr Major refused to confirm it and simply stated that he looked forward to discussing the issue at the forthcoming summit in February.
As Tory MPs and a couple of Labour MPs booed, Mr McNamara repeated Mr Hume's accusations. "May I congratulate you on your good fortune in having tangential advantage in the agreement you have announced today in keeping your government in power," he said.