The Northern Ireland Secretary has apologised for the decision last month to transfer the convicted murderer Jason Campbell to the North, a move that was later overturned amid claims that his case had been wrongly linked with the peace process.
During a business-like Northern Ireland Questions at the House of Commons yesterday, the shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, Mr Andrew Mackay, asked Dr Mo Mowlam to confirm "we have absolutely no political prisoners in this country" and that she would never again resort to "shabby deals" with the Progressive Unionist Party leader, Mr David Ervine.
Dr Mowlam immediately issued a clear apology to the Scott family, whose son Mark was murdered by Campbell, saying: "I give my apologies for and I am sorry if it caused them any deeper pain than they have already felt.
"In the case of Jason Campbell it subsequently became clear that the claims he made were false and in that sense the decision was then corrected and the transfer was refused."
Turning to the parades commission, Dr Mowlam said its members were not "anti-marching", there was "no hidden agenda", and all contentious parades - including Drumcree and Bellaghy - would be considered "in a fair and open fashion".
The public mood in Northern Ireland demands peace, Dr Mowlam said, and it was up to politicians, including the UDP and the UKUP who have refused to join the talks, to build trust in the community.
A vital part in building that trust was put in place yesterday when Dr Mowlam told the Commons the initial report of the decommissioning body had been handed to the British and Irish governments.
"We want decommissioning during talks," Dr Mowlam stated and she repeated a call to the DUP and the UKUP to "reconsider" their positions and rejoin the talks.
Earlier, Dr Mowlam reiterated the British government's commitment to the transfer of prisoners.
She insisted transfers played a "very important" role in the talks and indicated the government's support for the European Convention on prisoner transfers.
But when Dr Mowlam was asked to clarify whose confidence she was trying to build following the decision not to refer the case of Scots Guardsmen Mark Wright and James Fisher to the Life Sentence Review Board until next year, she rejected the analysis of the facts.
Dr Mowlam told the Tory MP, Mr Andrew Hunter, she did not accept the British army had lost confidence in her as a result and that the decision was made in terms of "retribution and deterrent".
Later, Dr Mowlam condemned the targeting of British and Irish civil servants at the Maryfield Secretariat by the Loyalist Volunteer Force.
Insisting she did not believe civil servants at Maryfield conducted themselves in an underhand way, Dr Mowlam said it would be "difficult" to reach agreements on the North if their discussions were immediately brought to the public's attention.
On past experience, she said, the British government would continue to talk to the Irish Government, since "more progress" could be made that way.
The Church of Ireland has commented on the new powers proposed for the Parades Commission, saying in an editorial in the Church of Ireland Gazette they offer no solution on their own. The editorial said the problem was not a "lack of machinery" because the government and the police, between them, already provided that.
"The problem consists in the unpalatable truth that without a will to peace, no decision, whether by government, police or commission, will be enforceable; and the stronger the sanctions imposed to that end, the more violent is likely to be the opposition," the editorial said.
"If progress is to be made, the parties must be brought together. If the Commission succeeds in doing that, it will go some way towards justifying its existence.
"But it would be rash to suppose that the emotions which notoriously are raised on these occasions would be cooled by the adjudication of a commission when they are not cooled by the adjudication of the police. In the last resort, whoever makes the decision on a march, it still will fall to the police to enforce it on the ground."