BRITISH MPs face another marathon session in the Commons tonight as the government rushes through legislation enabling the North's elections to be held on May 30th.
The Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, has again hailed the legislation as a "gateway" to the all party negotiations due to begin in Belfast on June 10th. But he acknowledged the "conflict of suspicions" harboured by unionists and nationalists when he opened the two day Committee Stage of the Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations) Bill in the Commons yesterday.
Sir Patrick stressed the need for "presentational balance" in the legislative arrangements effecting the elective process as he faced Ulster Unionist, DUP and SDLP hostility to the Bill, which provides for the appointment of negotiating teams and for the creation of a 110 member forum.
He clashed with the Rev Ian Paisley, the DUP leader, as he advised MPs against elevating the scope of the proposed forum beyond that envisaged in the Bill. And a DUP proposed amendment, designed to change the title of the Bill and define the creation of the forum as part of its purpose, was defeated by 217 votes to eight.
With guaranteed Labour support, government ministers were preparing to inflict similar defeats on unionist and SDLP amendments as MPs prepared for a possible all night session before the Bill moves to the House of Lords on Thursday. Any Lords amendments will probably be considered by the Commons on Friday, and the measure is expected to receive royal assent on Monday.
Given the bipartisan support for the legislation, the SDLP's Mr Eddie McGrady was signalling the party's opposition in principle to the creation of the forum, but was not expected to push the issue to a vote.
The Labour front bench has tabled a small number of amendments, one of which would give the forum flexibility to meet outside Belfast. And party spokesmen appeared confident last night Sir Patrick would be sympathetic to a Labour call for a change in the Bill requiring the Secretary of State to "make every effort to secure that the rules of procedure of the forum facilitate the promotion of dialogue, understanding and consensus across the communities in Northern Ireland".
This is an attempt by Labour to meet SDLP concerns that the rules of procedure, like the election of a chairman, could be subject to vote by a weighted 75 per cent majority.
The depth of the cross party consensus at Westminster was underlined by Labour's Mr Jim Dowd, who said: "This is an unprecedented Bill in British history. I would say to all Northern Ireland MPs, and to those who will represent the people of Northern Ireland in the new forum, that they will also carry with them the profound hopes of millions of their fellow citizens in the United Kingdom, and farther afield."
. The Ulster Unionist deputy leader, Mr John Taylor, has said his party's MPs and MEP should not consider contesting the May 30th election. Instead they should concentrate on their work in the Commons and the European Parliament. "It is essential that the UUP maintains proper and full time representation of constituents in those two parliaments.
"Only in exceptional cases should this principle be breached," Mr Taylor said.