The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, came under pressure yesterday to make a personal statement to the Commons over assurances he gave about the latest IRA weapons decommissioning.
The Conservatives claimed there was "a 180-degree contradiction" between statements by Mr Blair and Gen John de Chastelain, head of the international body on decommissioning.
Opening an Opposition debate in the Commons, Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary MrQuentin Davies warned that the Tories would not be party to "a cover-up".
But Speaker Mr Michael Martin warned Mr Davies several times that the motion tabled by the Opposition was more neutral than the speech he was giving.
At one point Mr Martin warned Mr Davies that he might have to stop him.
Northern Ireland Minister Jane Kennedy criticised the Opposition for raising such a debate in the middle of the election campaign in Northern Ireland.
The row focuses on Mr Blair's comments at Prime Minister's Question Time on October 22nd, the day after the IRA decommissioned weapons in an act witnessed only by members of the decommissioning body.
Referring to Gen de Chastelain, Mr Blair had told the Commons: "He gives certain information - not the full information but certain information - to us, as the two Governments.
"Although we are not at liberty to disclose that information without his permission, we are working hard to try to find a way in which we can do so, because I believe, on the basis of what we know, that people would be satisfied if they knew the full details." But today Mr Davies maintained Gen de Chastelain had said that he did not give extra information to the two Governments.
Mr Davies said he could only think of two occasions in which it was alleged that ministers had lied to the House of Commons - John Profumo in 1963 and James Callaghan, now Lord Callaghan, over devaluation in 1967.
"In both cases they used ambiguous phrases rather than directly contradicting the truth. Nevertheless, both of them resigned."
Ms Kennedy warned that strident statements about how decommissioning should be conducted would not help.
"Undermining Gen de Chastelain and the commission, which is liable to be the effect of what you are doing if not your intention, is profoundly damaging for prospects for advancing the peace process," she cautioned Mr Davies. Mr Blair and the Taoiseach had been able to learn more at Hillsborough on October 23rd about the event than was set out in the commission's statement, she told MPs.
"This is not in the least surprising. The commission's statement was very short, a matter of a few lines." The ensuing press conference had only lasted 15 minutes but added to the understanding of the event, she said.
Gen de Chastelain and colleague Mr Andrew Sens had spent more than an hour with Mr Blair and Mr Ahern before their statement, Ms Kennedy continued.
"Therefore it is perfectly understandable that in the course of such a meeting they developed a still clearer understanding than observers of the press conference were able to develop about what was involved in the IRA decommissioning act.
"As both the Prime Minister and Taoiseach have made clear, they were not given the full information in the commission's possession but they were able, as a result of what they learned, to indicate with conviction that there had indeed been a substantial act of decommissioning."