Anger as Sinn Fein Commons ban is lifted

THE government provoked an outcry yesterday when it announced plans to reverse a ban on Sinn Fein MPs, who refuse to sit in the House of Commons, taking offices in the Palace of Westminster.

The proposal to allow Gerry Adams and three other Sinn Fein MPs access to an array of services at the Commons and pay them up to 70,000 each in office expenses was described by Downing Street as another key step in securing the Northern Ireland peace process.

Opponents immediately branded the move an unacceptable concession and "an appalling measure" designed to appease the republicans.

Sinn Fein MPs were barred from Westminster in 1997 by the former Commons Speaker, Betty Boothroyd, because they refuse to swear the oath of allegiance to the Queen.

However, Downing Street said yesterday it was "the right time" to reverse the ruling because of the progress being made in Northern Ireland - particularly on decommissioning.

A spokesman for Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, said: "Sinn Fein have four MPs elected by constituents in the same way as any other MPs are, and whether they take their seats or not is a matter for Sinn Fein. The government believes they should have the same access."

He added: "Peace processes are delicate flowers and they need constant feeding, and therefore we need to keep talking to politicians in Northern Ireland."

David Trimble, the Northern Ireland First Minister, maintained a purposefully neutral position yesterday after meeting Mr Blair at Downing Street along with Mark Durkan, the SDLP deputy First Minister. Mr Durkan said: "I think this is really another part of Sinn Fein’s immersion into the constitutional fabric. The significant thing is that there may have been a change of attitude on the part of the Commons authority."

Mr Adams also met with Mr Blair to discuss the issue at Downing Street yesterday.

Robin Cook, the Leader of the House of Commons, told MPs of the government’s intention to re-admit Sinn Fein MPs amid rowdy scenes in Parliament.

Conservative backbenchers jeered Mr Cook as he described the move as "a modest step". He said: "The situation in Northern Ireland has changed since 1997.

"We have had the Good Friday agreement, we have seen the election of the Northern Ireland assembly, we have seen the first ever verifiable act of decommissioning."

Andrew Mackay, the Tories’ former shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, said the motion would be seen as "an appeasement to the men of violence".

Rev Martin Smyth, an Ulster Unionist Party MP, said the motion was giving a "wrong signal" at a time when international terrorism is being debated.