SDLP leader welcomes policing legislation

SDLP leader Mark Durkan has welcomed the new policing legislation announced in yesterday's Queen's Speech.

Speaking to students at the University of Ulster in Coleraine, Mr Durkan said: "I welcome the announcement of new legislation on policing. It will implement detailed commitments made to the SDLP at Weston Park and published in the Revised Implementation Plan. These commitments take forward the SDLP's police agenda and ensure that Patten is fully implemented in law.

"The commitments won by the SDLP mean that the power of the Policing Board to hold inquiries will be strengthened and the powers of the Secretary of State will be cut back. The Policing Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan will also be able to investigate police policies and practices, ensuring the highest standards of accountability and human rights."

Mr Durkan said that the new legislation would also clear the way for Gardai to serve in the PSNI with full policing powers. He said that this was a key demand of the SDLP and lay at the heart of the party's north/south policing agenda.

However, Mr Durkan warned Security Minister Jane Kennedy and the NIO that the SDLP would be vigilant in ensuring that the commitments given were honoured in full.

He said: "They were promised to us by Tony Blair and underwritten by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. The SDLP will not tolerate the slightest attempt to undermine them."

On the contentious issue of ex-prisoners serving as independent members of the soon to be constituted District Policing Partnerships – a key priority for Sinn Féin during the Weston Park negotiations – Mr Durkan said that this was only a matter of time and that there was no point in prevarication on the issue.

He called for the prohibition to be lifted in the new legislation as many ex-prisoners had played constructive roles in the community and there was no reason why they should be automatically ruled out of serving as independent members of the partnerships.

Summing up Mr Durkan said that nationalists and unionists on the Policing Board had successfully taken forward a more progressive policing agenda than the NIO.

Anticipating the end of direct rule Mr Durkan said: "Let's take control from the spooks and give police and justice powers to the Executive."

However, yesterday, UUP leader and former First Minister, David Trimble, said that the new policing legislation would need to be scrutinised in detail. He said that it would be "quite wrong" for the government to make further concessions to republicans.

(SP)