Archive for November, 2009

Peter Robinson and Leadership

Published November 23, 2009 Uncategorized 10 Comments

Sometimes I forget that Peter Robinson is First Minister of this place.  I don’t know why I should.  After all he gets the air-time.  However, when I see all the fuss being made about his speech at the DUP Conference I wonder to myself, why all the fuss?  And then I remember, oh yes, he’s First Minister.

They say that nations (or, in our case, little county-council sized regions) get the elected representatives they deserve.  Perhaps.  But I’m genuinely of the view that Peter Robinson is not truly happy in his political skin – it doesn’t quite fit.  He has grown into it.  People aren’t yet fully aware that he is First Minister.  They still consider him to be that little angry chap with the dark glasses that used to hang on to big Ian’s coat-tails.  School-boyish, career mini-politician. 

But now he’s First Minister.  He is our most public representative.  He visits the White House and stuff and we’re all slightly embarrassed by it all when we remember he is what he is, and when we can be bothered to remember. 

Peter is always indignant.  He never seems happy.  He is the opposite of cool.  He is never relaxed.  He is sure about God and Jesus and homosexuals.  He doesn’t question received ‘wisdom’ that much. 

Now his attention is turned away from ‘Republicans” and “Sinn Fein IRA” (because he’s in government with them) – and his wrath is directed at others.  The Conservative Party.  David Cameron.  The TUV.

Everywhere he looks people don’t appreciate his certainty, his authority, his new found importance. 

Peter wants to be liked, I suspect.  No, he wants to be respected.  He weathered the storm and climbed his greasy pole.  Now that he’s at the top of it he looks down at his people and is strangely disappointed.  His minions look dull from a distance.  His acolytes appear a tad grey and insipid – even when ranting.  He wants his empire to be better than this.  He wants to be a real politician looking down on brighter, happier people but all he sees are adoring dullards. 

Because Peter has become Chief Dullard.  In Peter’s world the songs are sung not by gorgeous young Generation Xers but by the Rev William McCrea.  Peter taps his foot to a dull and clanging rhythm that, strangely, disappoints him. 

True, he knew that the pole was greasy and it would be tricky to climb.  But, deep down, he is disappointed.  And he’s not sure why.

From Bizarre to Barking: The North Down Debacle

Published November 21, 2009 Opinion 6 Comments
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Once again the constituency of North Down is almost certain to provide the best of entertainment in the forthcoming general election.  What is it about this constituency that produces such mavericks?  From the camp Unionism of James Kilfedder to the giant ego of Bob McCartney, North Down is the epicentre of Northern Ireland political eccentricity. 

But soon we’re about to enter a whole new StarTrekian realm of oddness. 

Incumbent MP Sylvia Hermon, a New Labour acolyte, who has very limited ability to disguise her abject loathing of her own Party’s leadership, is on the verge of going independent.  By default the Conservative “nominee” for the seat should, therefore, be pushed forward as the agreed candidate.  Unless, of course, the local UUP constituency association puts forward an alternative candidate against the Lady.

However, to make matters even more bizarre, barking almost, the Alliance Party, in a fit of Fordian craziness, is about to support her Ladyship rather than the Alliance Party’s former European candidate, Ian Parsley.

Now the question this raises in my mind is, why?  Has Mr Parsley, in Alliance’s view, changed so fundamentally in his defection to the Conservatives to be unworthy of their support?  Has his involvement with Ian Duncan Smith’s Centre for Social Justice turned him into a venom spitting, sectarian firebrand?  Huh?

North Down, at its heart, is a decent constituency.  Voters there are independent minded – but they also want a more politically mainstream society – they proved that when they almost elected Dr Laurence Kennedy, as the Conservative candidate, back in 1992.

The Conservative/Alliance Nexus

Published November 18, 2009 Opinion 2 Comments

Here’s an odd thing.  In Northern Ireland Conservative and Alliance supporters are one and the same (pretty much).  UUP supporters and Conservative supporters aren’t.  Ditto voters. 

Fact is the Alliance Party and the Conservative Party are much more aligned in terms of support than many people realise. 

Meanwhile Alasdair McDonnell, in a rare blaze of clear thinking, has actually hit the nail on the head with the suggestion to Mark Devenport that the UUP and DUP are actually more at one than many people realise.  Both Parties are populated with puny-minded NornIroners.

Meanwhile, the Alliance Party still hasn’t formally jumped into bed with the Libs (never will, I suspect).  They have little in common with the largely looney-lefty Libs.  Fact is, most Alliance voters are pro-Union, non-sectarian and free marketeers.  AKA Conservatives.  Just look at Ian Parsley – now a potential Conservative PPC. 

So I throw down my gauntlet to old Fordy – stop all this nonsense.  If you’re serious about non-sectarian politics – do what your members want.  Form a real Alliance with the Conservatives, help annoy the UUP/DUP even more, and help secure a right-of-centre, liberal Conservative victory at the next general election (you know you want to).

Jonathan Caine in From the Cold

Published November 14, 2009 Opinion 4 Comments
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Jonathan Caine has never really been separated from the Conservative Party for too long a period.  His spell at Bell Pottinger was short-lived – now he’s to return to CCHQ to become Owen Paterson’s “Chief of Staff”.  It’s a role he will be well used to.  He performed similar roles for previous Conservative NI spokesmen in the past – even prior to the local Conservatives being recognised. 

Jonathan was always luke-warm, at best, about the local Conservatives’ attempts to organise and contest elections in Northern Ireland.  At heart he’s more of an Ulster Unionist.  He has been very keen on the UCUNF project and during the early days of negotiation between the Conservatives here, and the UUP, his Bell Pottinger email address would mysteriously appear on the cc list of peeps on the Conservative side. 

Owen Polley over on Three Thousand Versts welcomes the return of Caine.  However, I’m not so sure.  His empathy tends in the direction of the UUP and its reintegration with the Conservative Party.  He has never seemed overly convinced of the equal citizenship argument – that only the replacement of the politics of the tribe will result in the fundamental change required in Northern Ireland politics.

In short, the problem with Jonathan Caine lies in his being, according to Owen Paterson, “one of the foremost experts on Northern Ireland politics”.  One could argue that an expert in Northern Ireland’s politics is the last thing Owen Paterson or Northern Ireland needs. 

Perhaps his “expert” status allows him to ajudge Northern Ireland’s politics as the stunted politics of the swamp.  However, unfortunately, I’m of the view that Caine’s life-long hobby is Northern Ireland politics.  He knows the characters, the nuances, the local flavours.  He’s like a Warhammer character collector. 

That is part of the problem.  There are enough experts on Northern Ireland politics here already and the hobby is, ultimately, pointless. 

However, I’m prepared to give Jonathan the benefit of the doubt – for now.

Academic Selection and Democracy and Northern Ireland

Published November 14, 2009 Opinion 2 Comments
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Today my son is one of thousands of kids from across Northern Ireland to sit the new transfer tests administered not by the Department of Education but by a parent-led body, the Association for Quality Education.  I had the honour to be involved in AQE prior to the re-establishment of devolution.  At one point there seemed a real prospect that we would be able to defeat Peter Hain’s Education NI Order that saw the end of the old transfer test.  When the matter was kicked back to the Assembly on the restoration of devolution, Catriona Ruane systematically ignored the wishes of parents who wished to see the maintenance of a selection based system.  The result is that those parents – through organisations like the AQE – ensured that the will of the people would prevail.

The fact that we have retained a voluntary system of testing for entry to many of our finest grammar schools shows how democracy works at its most elemental level.  If our elected representatives fail to govern, and fail to represent the will of the people, then the people are perfectly entitled to impose their will without breaking the law.  Sinn Fein seemed to believe that this gave it the right to wage war on our society.  In the case of academic selection the resolve of the people has resulted in quiet and calm determination.  Sir Ken Bloomfield and others have shown that they do not need the help of politicians to get things done.  Quite the opposite. 

Indeed I, and my Conservative colleagues, let the side down badly.  We failed to secure the support of the Liberal Democrats and the vote in the House of Lords was secured by the government.   Worse, the Conservatives in GB came up with a new education policy that turned its back on the grammar school system – a system that still secures social mobility in many parts of England.

The arguments against selection are spurious.  Egalitarianism does not achieve better results.  Our grammars and secondary schools produce incredible results – massively above the national average.  As I have stated in other posts, it is clear that excessively high levels of under-achievement is the result of failings in the primary system – not at post-primary level.  This has also been pointed-out, eloquently, by Chris Woodhead.

Part of the problem may also be an anti-education culture in so-called working class areas where poor performance – especially among boys – is the result of lack of ambition and excessive ghetto thinking.  Most children of the ghettos fail to be given the opportunity to sit any transfer tests that might be offered, never mind actually attend a grammar.  The social stigma associated with ambition may also be too much to bear.

I can understand.  I grew up in one of the most socially deprived parts of Lisburn in a housing estate where few, if any, of the children had the chance to attend a grammar.  When I donned the blazer of Friends’ School, Lisburn I was taunted and sneered-at on my way to school and home again.  But I persevered.  And I received a wonderful education from one of Northern Ireland’s finest schools.  I may have been one of the few but I sat the test.  I passed.  I attended.  Unlike David Cameron, or Peter Hain, I had a wonderful education but my parents didn’t have to pay – because they simply couldn’t have paid. 

All over the media today we hear representatives of teacher unions complaining that they oppose academic selection.  We hear much from the education minister about the trauma of the tests.  But we hear little about the men and women who have invested the time and effort and commitment to maintain an element of democracy that is still alive and well in Northern Ireland – the will of the people.

The School Report

Published November 10, 2009 Opinion 6 Comments
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The School Report, screened last night on BBC Northern Ireland (DoubleBand Films), was an excellent treatment of an issue that is top of our minds – as children prepare for the new testing procedures being set for admission to grammar schools.  The film was obviously made prior to the grammar schools making public their intention to set their own tests – outside the control of the Department of Education.

Fiona Millar, education journalist and a passionate believer in the comprehensive school system, and Chris Woodhead, former Chief Inspector of Schools, who is firmly pro-selection, featured in the film. 

While it was made clear in the film that Fiona Millar was a “friend of Cherie Blair” what was not mentioned was that she is also the partner of Alastair Campbell, former Head of Communications for Tony Blair. 

As a result, in the segment where she and Woodhead met Catriona Ruane, it came across very clearly that both Millar and Ruane were both ideologically driven.  Both are driven by dogma and both are deaf to the argument that the failure in our education system – children leaving school without basic literacy and numeracy – is more the fault of the primary system that the secondary system.  This point was made repeatedly in the film and ignored by both Millar and Ruane.  They also ignored the fact that our current system produces better results at GCSE and A Level than any other part of the UK. 

Woodhead was right to warn parents not to entrust Northern Ireland’s education system to the Assembly.  Thankfully, since the film was made, parents and principals have managed to achieve some level of self-control outside the system.  Primary schools are ignoring the advice of the Department and preparing children for the grammar school admission tests.  While the arrangements are not perfect they have a feeling of solidity about them. 

Over time, I’d hope, that all grammar schools would use a common and standardised entrance assessment.  However people power has triumphed in the face of the Department of Education’s incompetence.  That is to be applauded.

Dog Walk

Published November 9, 2009 Opinion 17 Comments
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This morning I was walking the dog and met three different strangers in quick succession.  Each one I greeted with a cheery, “Good Morning”.  And yet not one, I repeat, not one, replied.  The first put his head down and quickened his pace.  The second pretended not to hear.  The third made a kind of grunting sound.  But it didn’t even approximate to a “hello”, never mind a “Good Morning.”

Now that is not typical.  Most people, here, are quite good at greeting strangers out on morning walks.  But there is this new, creeping tendency towards lack of manners.  I don’t claim to be the most gregarious type of person – but I can always muster a greeting to a fellow morning walker.  I always find it strangely upsetting to be completely blanked in return.

Now I know I’m a bit of a political trouble-maker – but it’s all about constructive, good-humoured argument.  I don’t wish anyone ill.  Deep down I consider myself a relatively gentle person – my political rants are mostly bluff and bluster.  And, therefore, it pains me to say that I do get rather a lot of rude and nasty comments on this site.  Ironically, often these tirades are from people who claim to be Christian and who take exception to my secularist/Humanist stance.

As a result I have had to reinstate the comment moderation feature of this site.  I’m happy to publish comments that differ from my opinion – that encourage debate.  However, I am now deleting offensive, puerile or potentially libelous comments of a highly personal nature (particularly if they are directed at me). 

But I’d also suggest that, as a society, we should try to return to one that is gracious and kind.  We can disagree, we can be spirited in discussion, we can be strident.  But we should also have manners.  Because manners maketh the man.

Are the Conservatives in Northern Ireland ‘Going Native’?

Published November 6, 2009 Opinion 4 Comments
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Earlier in the week recent Conservative recruit, Deirdre Nelson, wrote a letter to the Belfast Telegraph wherein she referred to the “arrangement between these two great parties” – the two Parties being the Conservative Party and the Ulster Unionist Party.  Now perhaps I missed something, but I can’t quite recall a time when the Ulster Unionist Party – indeed any of Northern Ireland’s political Parties – was “great”. 

Now one could argue that no political Parties are great.  Political Parties are a very imperfect way to do democracy.  They have a tendency to stifle freedom of thought.  Party politicians acting in conscience, rather than to suit the collective, are few and far between.  I don’t like collectives – and it’s a key reason why I dislike football teams and religions. 

However, I’d have to admit that the Conservative Party could probably, rightly, be described as “great”.  After all, it’s the Party of Peel, Churchill, Disraeli and Thatcher.  But the UUP?  Great?

The UUP is not even a political Party in the true sense of the term. 

Let’s seek a definition of political party and then decide whether the Ulster Unionist Party passes the test.  If it fails to pass the litmus test of political party then, de facto, it is impossible for it to be great.  Yes?

Here’s the Wikipedia definition:

A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns. Parties often espouse an expressed ideology or vision bolstered by a written platform with specific goals, forming a coalition among disparate interests.

Well I think we can safely say that the UUP has never sought political power within government – after all it has been in existence since the home rule crisis and has never had the opportunity, until recently, of having any say in the government of the United Kingdom.  Even now it refuses to dismantle itself and encourage its members to join the Conservative Party – so that those members could become active in a UK wide political Party that aspires to form the next government.  Instead it trundles along competing with the Conservative Party for members, organising its fund raising campaigns, wittering on about parades, and protestantism, and Ulster.

And what about the UUP’s expressed ideology or vision?  It has none.  The Party has never really understood what it stands for (apart from the “Union”).  Unionism is not an ideology – despite the fact that UUP members would like to think its is.  The founder of modern Unionism, Carson, never wanted Ulster Unionism to set itself outside mainstream UK political debate and never wanted a Stormont government.  He just wanted Northern Ireland to be like the rest of the UK.  Oh and he wasn’t too fond of the Orange Order either…”all old bones and rotten rags.”

And what about the coalition of disparate interests?  Well it ticks that box I suppose.  I gather UUP MLAs are split down the middle in terms of the deal with the Conservatives.  South Belfast UUP have declared UDI and, today, the UUP Health Minister attended a trade union organised rally held in Belfast to protest against cuts to the health service (yes, you did read that correctly). 

In short, the UUP can barely be defined as a political Party, let alone a great one. 

Therefore it begs the question, are the Conservatives in Northern Ireland going a bit soft?  The Conservative/UUP deal is not a meeting of equals or two ‘great’ parties.  It’s about the removal of a sectarian brand from Northern Ireland politics.  Conservatives here should not forget that.

House of Lords Debates Humanism Inclusion in BBC Output

Published November 6, 2009 News , Opinion Leave a Comment

You may be interested in Wednesday night’s debate on the BBC and Humanism in the Moses Room, House of Lords, called by Lord Harrison.

In that debate, several members of the All Party Humanist Group spoke, making the case for inclusion of humanism in BBC broadcasting, and of humanists as contributors to Thought for the Day.

The debate was especially timely as the BBC Trust is today continuing its deliberations on these issues. The Government’s response to the debate was that it ‘Hoped the BBC was listening’.  I’ll keep readers up to date re. outcome.

However, when reading Hansard relating to the debate I very much enjoyed this:

7.35 pm

Lord Kilclooney: My Lords, I had not intended to speak in this debate, but having heard some of the contributions, I find it very interesting. I speak as a happy Christian, an Ulster Protestant and a great friend of Islam.

The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Colwyn): My Lords, I think that the noble Lord has missed the opportunity to speak in the gap, which was before the noble Lord, Lord Taverne. I stand open to suggestion.

Lord Kilclooney: I was going to be very brief. Perhaps the humanists still want to hear my contribution.

Noble Lords: No.

____________

Very interesting to know that Lord Kilclooney defines himself as a “happy Christian, an Ulster Protestant and a great friend of Islam.”  Now we know.  But even better that he was shut up by a bunch of All-Party Atheists!

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Musings on things political and secular…

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