By early November the ceasefire existed only in name and the incident centres were closed. In December Rees released the final internees and declared internment to be over, but was able to tell the Commons that in 1975 more than 1,100 people had been charged with paramilitary offences, and that the prison population had risen by 40 per cent. Meanwhile, of course, no steps towards British withdrawal had been taken. In fact, during the ceasefire period the authorities had been carefully planning a new security phase.
