The Northern Ireland Secretary has refused to speculate on British government plans for the Northern Ireland Assembly if the talks at Stormont fail to reach agreement. Dr Mo Mowlam said she could "guarantee" a plan would be put forward when the outcome of the negotiations was known.
Responding to calls to clarify the government's position should the talks fail, Dr Mowlam said she would not negotiate across the despatch box while talks were still going on at Stormont, "but I can guarantee it will be there when the outcome of today is known".
Dr Mo Mowlam had broken off from intensive negotiations at Stormont to brief MPs in the Commons on the "great deal of progress" being made. It was difficult, however, to give a detailed assessment while they were in progress. "At lunchtime we were feeling positive. By the time I left to come here an hour later, people were getting worried again. Three steps forward, two steps back. It goes up and down."
She rejected Conservative MP Mr Malcolm Moss's demand for confirmation that the government intended to press on with devolution to the Northern Ireland Assembly and that Sinn Fein would be expelled if there was no IRA decommissioning by May 2000. "I won't answer that specific point - what you are asking me to do is negotiate across the despatch box what the parties in Northern Ireland are now engaged in." The Shadow Northern Ireland secretary, Mr Andrew Mackay, said he was not confident that the IRA would decommission its weapons. Last week, he said, two men arrested in Co Donegal while transporting a cache of explosives appeared in court in wearing "Sinn Fein green ribbons" and were admitted into the Provision al IRA wing of Portlaoise prison.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr John Prescott, standing in for the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, stressed the importance of reaching a lasting agreement. He told MPs that decommissioning was not a precondition but an obligation and he urged all parties to "take that final step" or be prepared for a return to violence.
The Northern Ireland Minister, Mr Adam Ingram, has told Orangemen if they behave with "dignity" on Sunday at Drumcree they would have the support and respect of parliament and the majority of people in Northern Ireland.
He praised the Catholic community on the Garvaghy Road who had endured "intolerable circumstances" during the Drumcree standoff and Orangemen too had shown great willingness to reach an accommodation. Mr Ingram said the RUC and the British army would be able to deal with any violence at Drumcree.