Brown praises Northern Ireland decomissioning

In the BBC article, "PM praises Northern Ireland decomissioning moves", on February 7th Gordon Brown praised the "decomissioning", or removal of weapons, that occured through three of Northern Ireland's main parties. The decomissioning was started by a piece of legislation that was proposed in the Northern Ireland Genereal Assembly. The prime minister said that the act was "a central part of the process of moving NI from violence to peace". This strongly elevates the legitamacy of the government because now the people of Northern Ireland know that their parties are not taking part in any shady activity. It also helps with the transparency and shows that Gordon Brown can have a significant voice in Northern Ireland.