The British government pushed ahead with its plans for the early release of paramilitary prisoners last night, comfortably defeating a Conservative/Unionist alliance in the House of Commons.
The Order clearing the way for the release of IRA, UDA and UVF prisoners - some 420 over a period of two years, and an estimated 200 by Christmas - was carried by 219 votes to 86, a government majority of 86.
In the Order - which is consequential to the Northern Ireland Sentences Act which obtained the Royal Assent and passed into law on Tuesday night - the Northern Ireland Secretary specifies the Loyalist Volunteer Force, the Irish National Liberation Army, the Continuity Irish Republican Army and the "Real" IRA as ineligible for the scheme.
The government victory came after a markedly bitter debate which heard a succession of Conservative and Unionist MPs condemn Dr Mo Mowlam's decision to proceed with the early-release scheme, in the light of accumulating evidence of IRA involvement in the murder of Mr Andrew Kearney and the ongoing scale of so-called "punishment" beatings.
The Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, Mr Andrew Mackay, described the passage of the Order as "a sad day for the House of Commons, a sad day for democracy, and for the rule of law in the United Kingdom."
The Conservative MP, Mr Andrew Hunter, said there was "a shameful and sordid predictability to the Order" which had further undermined confidence "in the Secretary of State's competence, judgment and objectivity". And Mr Bill Cash MP described the move as "the biggest sell-out I have ever seen in the course of my time in this Parliament."
The ferocity of the Tory attack prompted speculation at Westminster last night that the Conservatives might reverse their earlier decision and vote against the Third Reading of the Northern Ireland Bill, which implements the Belfast Agreement. Of more immediate concern to the government was the continued uncertainty about the voting intentions of Mr John Taylor. The Third Reading vote will take place later tonight or tomorrow before MPs break for the summer recess.
Mr Taylor was not present in the Commons last night. But in a statement in Belfast he accused Dr Mowlam of stretching the credibility of the agreement "beyond imagination" and in a manner "dangerous for the entire structure of the peace process."
Mr Taylor declared: "It is beginning to look as if the government is prepared to do anything Sinn Fein demands." The IRA, he said, had not nominated a spokesman to deal with the independent body established to achieve the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons, and had been involved in murder and continued "punishment" shootings and beatings. "For Mo Mowlam to announce that they are on permanent ceasefire is really rather sickening for everyone in Northern Ireland," he said.
Dr Mowlam told MPs hers had been a difficult decision but the right one "in the round". She said: "These are tough decisions. I will keep them under review. If I consider an organisation no longer meets the conditions I will exclude them from the scheme. No more of their prisoners will be released and prisoners already released who still support them will be recalled."
But Mr Jeffrey Donaldson MP said the commencement of the scheme broke Mr Tony Blair's assurance during the referendum campaign that "prisoners will be kept in unless violence is given up for good."
The final parliamentary hurdle cleared, Dr Mowlam will today announce the names of the 10 Sentence Review Commissioners who will consider each individual application for early release.