The prime minister's office has issued an apology after false claims by David Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, writes Kevin Meagher.
The contrasts between David Cameron and Gerry Adams could not be more stark. While Cameron was sitting his A-Levels at Eton, Gerry Adams assumed the presidency of Sinn Fein – after spending is own youth locked in guerrilla war with the British state. In order to lead Sinn Fein’s campaign in the forthcoming general election in the Republic, Adams is standing for the Dail in the Louth constituency. Relinquishing his West Belfast Westminster seat, however, has triggered a frisson of excitement among parliamentary anoraks at the manner of his departure.
As is well known, Sinn Fein Members elect not to sit in the House of Commons due to their refusal to swear the oath of allegiance to the British Crown (and also because they regard it as a ‘foreign’ parliament).
Members retiring their seats between elections are, however, obliged, under archaic parliamentary tradition, to apply for an Office of Profit under The Crown before they can stand down.
These procedural devices see retiring MPs granted the procedural title ‘Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead’ or ‘Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham’. Eschewing the fripperies of British parliamentary tradition, Adams signalled his intention to resign with a simple letter to Speaker Bercow.
Cue much chortling from British politics’ public schoolboy fraternity, with David Cameron telling Democratic Unionist MP Nigel Dodds at yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions:
“I’m not sure that Gerry Adams will be delighted to be Baron of the Manor of Northstead. But nonetheless I’m pleased that tradition has been maintained.”
But it appears that Adams – who neither sought nor accepts the antiquated title – has had the last laugh. Last night the Speaker’s office confirmed that Adams has now been disqualified as a Member of Parliament, as per his original intention. Meanwhile Adams claims that the prime minister’s private secretary apologised to him for David Cameron’s point-scoring.
A statement released by Gerry Adams last night reads:
“The only contact I have had with the British Parliament is a letter I posted to them last Thursday.
“That letter said:
‘A chara [equivalent of “Dear Sir”), I hereby resign as MP for the constituency of west Belfast. Go raibh maith agat [thank-you very much]. Gerry Adams.’
“When I was told of the British Prime Minister’s remarks today this was the first I heard of this development. I understand Mr. Cameron has claimed that ‘The Honourable Member for West Belfast has accepted an office for profit under the Crown.”
“This is untrue. I simply resigned. I was not consulted nor was I asked to accept such an office. I am an Irish republican. I have had no truck whatsoever with these antiquated and quite bizarre aspects of the British parliamentary system.
“I am proud to have represented the people of West Belfast for almost three decades and to have done so without pledging allegiance to the English Queen or accepting British parliamentary claims to jurisdiction in my country.
“Mr. Cameron’s announcement that I have become Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead, wherever that is, is a bizarre development. I am sure the burghers of that Manor are as bemused as me. I have spoken to the Prime Minister’s private secretary today and he has apologised for today’s events.”
With Sinn Fein polling strongly south of the border – tying for third place with governing party Fianna Fail – the prospect of Mr Adams’s party making an historic breakthrough and emerging as part of the government in both parts of the island of Ireland is now a real possibility.
Perhaps his sneering schoolboy critics will shortly wish he had stayed where he was.
58 Responses to “Manor of his departure sees Adams receive apology from Cameron”
Shamik Das
Anon E Mouse – if they weren’t fighting a “guerilla war” or a “war”, why were the IRA repeatedly asked to declare “the war is over” by Unionists and UK ministers? And with regard to Al Qaeda, don’t tell me you’re on the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld axis of describing terrorists as “unlawful combatants”.
Stephen W
Gerry Adams is an apologist and a supporter of terrorism. He is an absolute disgrace and his party is a loathsome bunch of terrorist supporters, extremists and murderers. Anyone who votes for them or supports them is a damn fool and a disgrace.
Mr Adams stood for election to the British parliament. The only way to resign the british parliament is to take an office of profit under the crown. These are synonymous, one implies the other. If Mr Adams did not want to take an office of profit under the crown his choices were either not resigning or not standing for parliament in the first place. He stood he agrees to play by the rules.
He and his ideology are loathsome and if having to take an office of profit under the crown embarrasses him then good. I hope he and his disgraceful party fails utterly in their campaign to enter the politics of the ROI. And if being unable to resign as an MP without taking an office of profit under the crown hinders him from doing that in some way then all for the better I say.
Liz McShane
Anon – just a few basic points:
1. The people of West Belfast vote Gerry Adams in on the basis that he won’t take his seat. That fact is not hidden from them. In fact they have done this for some time!
2. A lot of valuable work done by MPs is also in the constituency not just in the chamber (although I do think they should take their seats their given that they now sit in Stormont).
Mark Stevo
Trimble described it as a “dirty little terrorist war”. I rather suspect he and other unionists thought about it in those terms rather than a noble fight against the imperial oppressor. Anyway, this is by in large a waste of time, the perennial terrorist vs freedom fighter debate has gone on without resolution for some time now, locals are too entrenched and the mainlanders wil never get it.
Liz McShane
Oops – I meant to write ‘there’ & not ‘their’…..