'I'd have devolved powers separately'
DEVOLVING control of policing first, before transferring control of the justice system, could have made moving the powers to Stormont more straightforward, a senior Tory has said.
Shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve proposed the staggered devolution a year ago when he visited the Province and put it forward in Parliament last year.
However, the Government rejected the compromise measure and the Conservatives have subsequently supported Gordon Brown's efforts to see a swift devolution of policing and justice.
But Mr Grieve said that devolving the powers in stages could have built unionist confidence that politicians were up to the job.
Speaking to the News Letter during his visit to the Province last week, the QC said: "At the time when this was being first debated, I suggested that, seeing as there seemed to be so much difficulty in doing both together – which has been proved correct by events because we're still doing it – that one solution would have been to devolve policing first and justice second.
"My own assessment was that in many ways justice was the more difficult one and therefore might be held back.
"But when the legislation came to Parliament, the Government was very clear in the course of debates that they felt the two had to go together and any suggestion of holding that up would be endangering the whole peace process and we said 'It was a suggestion and no more than that'.
"We have to wait on events but it is noteworthy that there clearly has been a problem getting this package dealt with.
"Whether our model would have been any better is purely hypothetical – it was put forward to be helpful."
Over recent weeks the Conservatives are understood to have pressed Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey to agree to devolving policing and justice, David Cameron mindful that, if elected in May, a crisis in Northern Ireland could face him from his first day in Downing Street.
However, the UUP insists that it does not have to agree with the Conservatives on every policy issue and that the Tories are giving their electoral partner time to consider the deal.
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Tuesday 14 February 2012
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