NIO minister at the time of Gerry Adams’ internment slams the Supreme Court ruling that cleared the Sinn Fein president

A former government minister at the time of Gerry Adams’ internment has added his weight to calls for an urgent change in the law after the convictions of the former Sinn Fein president were quashed.
The Supreme Court said that Gerry Adams, the former Sinn Fein president, had not been legally interned in 1973, because his detention had not been signed by the then secretary of state William Whitelaw. But Lord Howell says most signings were discussed with the secretary of state. He adds: "In any case, in relation to Gerry Adams one can be absolutely sure that it would have been discussed most fully and confirmed by the secretary of state before the [order] was made"The Supreme Court said that Gerry Adams, the former Sinn Fein president, had not been legally interned in 1973, because his detention had not been signed by the then secretary of state William Whitelaw. But Lord Howell says most signings were discussed with the secretary of state. He adds: "In any case, in relation to Gerry Adams one can be absolutely sure that it would have been discussed most fully and confirmed by the secretary of state before the [order] was made"
The Supreme Court said that Gerry Adams, the former Sinn Fein president, had not been legally interned in 1973, because his detention had not been signed by the then secretary of state William Whitelaw. But Lord Howell says most signings were discussed with the secretary of state. He adds: "In any case, in relation to Gerry Adams one can be absolutely sure that it would have been discussed most fully and confirmed by the secretary of state before the [order] was made"

Lord Howell, who as David Howell was a junior minister to the Northern Ireland secretary William Whitelaw in 1973, has issued the latest devastating criticism of last month’s Supreme Court ruling.

In a paper for the influential London think-tank Policy Exchange, and first published today in the News Letter (inside the print edition in full and also now online, see below), Lord Howell flatly contradicts the reasoning of the UK’s highest court, which says that the order to intern Mr Adams was not lawfully made.

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The judges noted that the order was signed by a minister of state, such as Mr Howell (although Lord Howell cannot remember whether or not he did), and concluded there was a lack of evidence that Mr Whitelaw had personally considered the order.

The Rt Hon The Lord Howell of Guildford, who as David Howell was a junior NIO minister in 1973, when Gerry Adams was internedThe Rt Hon The Lord Howell of Guildford, who as David Howell was a junior NIO minister in 1973, when Gerry Adams was interned
The Rt Hon The Lord Howell of Guildford, who as David Howell was a junior NIO minister in 1973, when Gerry Adams was interned

The court said that Mr Whitelaw, as secretary of state, was legally required to do so.

But Lord Howell writes that “the political salience and security implications of detaining Mr Adams would have made [full consideration] unavoidable”.

Lord Howell says the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling, which was read out by the former lord chief justice of Northern Ireland Lord Kerr, misunderstands the significance of [legislation on internment], “which specifically provided for a minister of state or undersecretary of state to sign [a detention order] in the name of the secretary of state”.

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The former Northern Ireland Office (NIO) minister writes that “it was inherent in the nature of direct rule that the secretary of state had to be frequently in London — in Parliament or the Cabinet — and that his responsibilities would often have to be exercised by a junior minister on the ground”.

Lord Howell adds: “The Supreme Court’s assertion that it would not have been difficult for the secretary of state to consider each case personally and to make each [internment order] himself simply does not match the reality.”

He says most signings were discussed “with other ministers and usually with the secretary of state by telephone”. He adds: “In any case, in relation to Gerry Adams one can be absolutely sure that it would have been discussed most fully and confirmed by the secretary of state before the [order] was made.”

The Supreme Court’s ruling has caused outrage in Whitehall, with the former head of the civil service Lord Butler and the legal experts Professor Richard Ekins and Sir Stephen Laws calling for an urgent change in the law to make clear that the internment orders were legal.

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Lord Howell writes that he agrees that the need for this “is overwhelming”.

It is, he says, “a travesty to conclude that because ministers complied with the terms of the 1972 Order, and did not go above and beyond it to somehow record the secretary of state’s involvement, the [order to detain Mr Adams] must now be quashed and the detention ruled unlawful”.

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