Posts Tagged 'DUP'

Nelson and The Cuts

Published January 19, 2011 Uncategorized 4 Comments
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Nelson McCausland, Northern Ireland’s self appointed leader of a lost tribe of Israel, and Culture Minister (jeez), has been ranting.

His rant is about the removal of funding for NI sports facilities being the fault of the Conservatives. Not, you’ll note, the profligate nut-job of a government that came before the Con/Lib coalition.

By definition, therefore, Nelson takes a dim view of the UK government trying to get a rampant public sector deficit under control. He also seems to have an issue with Northern Ireland playing its part in supporting the effort to plug the fiscal gap.

Unionist eh? Little Ulster mentalist more like.

Thankfully I’m not alone…

Published April 11, 2010 Opinion 8 Comments
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It’s encouraging to note that I’m not alone in highlighting the contradictions of the Conservative/UUP/DUP sectarian pact for Fermanagh South Tyrone.  Here are a few of the more interesting quotes from the media and other blogs…

The unionist unity deal in Fermanagh South Tyrone highlights a major stress line — some would say contradiction — in the thinking behind the UUP’s pact with the Conservatives.  David Gordon, Belfast Telegraph

It undermines, possibly fatally, the main publicised selling-point behind the UUP and Conservative link-up. Election pacts such as this can not deliver the new pro-Union politics promised here.  O’Neill, Pint of Unionist Lite

The outcome in the UK’s most westerly constituency clearly runs contrary to David Cameron’s pledge that every voter in the UK would have a chance to vote for him.  Stephen Walker, BBC NI

Tories break pledge to field candidates in all Northern Ireland constituencies.  Nicolas Watt, The Guardian

I believe that the deal was a huge mistake on the part of the Conservative leadership and one which they will eventually regret.  Seymour Major, Tory Story

The announcement of a Tory-aligned unionist ‘unity’ candidate is a serious attempt to drive us back to the failed sectarian politics of the past.  Feargal McKinney SDLP Candidate for Fermanagh South Tyrone

Jeffrey Donaldson: Hot and Bothered But Absent

Published October 18, 2009 Opinion 3 Comments
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Later in the week I’m chairing a major conference in London on how web technology is affecting the process of government.  Some of the clearest and most tangible examples of this is the new breed of web sites that take public data provided by government and converts it into a form that we can all use. 

A great example of this is www.PublicWhip.org – which very neatly presents voting information relating to MPs and Lords.

This information is wonderful for providing at a glance information about how your local MP is and has been voting on issues that they appear to be hot and bothered about in public.  By way of example I’ve been looking at the voting record of my own local MP, Jeffrey Donaldson. 

The most interesting data is the extent to which he does not vote at all – despite the legislation relating, one would have thought, to his core values – things he rants on about in public and in the media. 

For example, Donaldson gets very hot and bothered on the subject of abortion.  But, strangely, he rarely bothers to show up in the Commons and vote when the opportunity arises to vote on important abortion or termination of pregnancy legislation.  Here’s a list of votes in the Commons where Jeffrey Donaldson MP was (mostly) absent:

Abortion Votes: Jeffrey Donaldson MP Mostly Absent

Termination of Pregnancy Votes: Jeffrey Donaldson MP Never Appears to Vote

Similarly on issues pertaining to homosexuality and human fertilisation…despite the constant wearing of the Jesus fish in his lapel…he rarely bothers to make it to vote:

Homosexuality Votes: Jeffrey Donaldson (Mostly) Couldn’t Be Bothered

But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.  Perhaps he takes the view that he would resist the extension of such laws to Northern Ireland, given his double jobbing at Stormont.

So what about recent attendance of anti-terrorist legislation votes? 

Terrorism Votes: Jeffrey Donaldson MP Fails to Show

Hmm.  One wonders if Mr Donaldson will be seeking re-election to Westminster given his double, indeed triple, indeed quadruple mandates (councillor, MLA, Minister and MP).  But I’m not sure he’ll be missed in the corridors of power.  Because he’s rarely there.

Sammy Wilson and Northern Ireland’s Budget Crisis

Published September 23, 2009 Uncategorized 4 Comments
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In a post last week I asked how it could be that the current Executive was silent on the subject of budget cuts.  And now Sammy Wilson has finally got round to sitting down with a few civil servants who have told him that such cuts are inevitable. 

The sheer incompetence and mismanagement being exhibited by the Executive is jaw-dropping.  Jumped-up “Ministers” swagger around in their ministerial limos completely disassociated from real-world government logic.  But now the truth must be dawning on the Northern Ireland electorate that most of the people they have elected and put into office are systematically useless. 

And why are they useless?  Because they have little or no skills required to govern – and because most of them have been so immersed in sectarian bickering that they have lost the ability to think about and resolve real world problems like balancing budgets.

The DUP, for example, made election commitments to defer water charges.  Why?  It makes no practical sense to defer charges for services that are provided and infrastructure that’s needed.  Now, given the monstrous hole in the budget, it’s becoming clear that water charges are back on the table.  And so they should be.  They should have been on the table during election time.  But so intent were lazy politicians to get elected they promised anything.  They duped the electorate.  Because I’ll bet you this – I’ll bet that no-one in the DUP actually sat down and did the sums.  I’ll bet that no-one actually asked the question, “What will the consequences be of us deferring these charges on the rest of the budget?”

Now, of course, we’re in a deep recession.  Our workforce is heavily dependent on the public purse for employment – as are other less developed regions of the UK.  Whatever government is elected next year will commit to significant and deep public spending cuts – and that will affect the block grant. 

Therefore, a major structural root and branch review of our budget is required – not merely adding water charges back on the table.  Oh and that review should also address whether there is any demand for the devolution of policing and justice – given the fact that it’s going to cost an arm and a leg. 

Northern Ireland is facing a major crisis.  Something needs to be done – but one thing’s for sure.  Sammy Wilson is not the solution.

A Big Electoral Swing?

Published June 7, 2009 Opinion 2 Comments
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The indications are that the DUP’s core vote has slumped in Thursday’s European elections.  The intervention of Jim Allister has resulted in a great swathe of voters returning to a clearly anti-Agreement and anti-Sinn Fein agenda.  Rumours from the hills suggest that a significant cohort of voters has become very disenchanted with a DUP that has lost touch with its voter base and is milking the system through power dynasties and double/triple jobbing.

The indications are that the Conservative/UUP vote has held up.  However it has not grown to the extent that many would have hoped given the intervention of the Conservative campaigning machine and the support of Conservative big-hitters like William Hague and David Cameron.

Whether Jim Nicholson is elected remains to be seen.  It’s likely to be a close-run thing if he is.  However the closeness clearly shows that there is a significant opportunity for the Conservatives moving forward.

The TUV is unlikely to be able to muster much in the way of political talent other than Allister.  Whereas there is every possibility that the Conservatives can find a good number of very articulate and talented candidates for the Westminster elections.  The challenge is to ensure that the candidates are more articulate than Jim Nicholson and more clearly define the advantages of a move towards political inclusion in mainstream UK politics.  Nicholson was unable to do this adequately during his campaign.  That is a great pity.  But the more encouraging conclusion is that there is a strong Conservative voter base in Northern Ireland. 

Now we need to step up a gear and sell the project with much more conviction than Jim Nicholson could muster.

None of the Above

Published June 5, 2009 Opinion 6 Comments
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I exercised my democratic right and voted last night in the European Election.  However, judging from the electoral register in front of the official who issued my voting form, I was one of a tiny minority.  She also indicated that, in my Lisburn ward at least, turnout was awful.  Given the number of lines through voters on her sheet I’d estimate turnout of around 30% max at my time of voting (around 9.00pm). 

The line-up of candidates is part of the explanation.  The ‘headline’ DUP candidate, with her excruciating voice, was an utter voter turn-off – not just against the DUP but for local politics in general.  Allister came across as a nasty little man, wittering on about the Protestant community.  The Shinners obviously just regard the whole EU enterprise as a money spinner.  And Jim Nicholson of UCUNF never really mastered the ability to sell the Conservative and Unionist project as anything other than a repackaging of the UUP.  A real opportunity missed and a very dull candidate (regardless of his EU experience).

However young Ian Parsley came across as competent in the campaign (despite an awful Alliance PEB).  And the Green candidate, Agnew, gave a respectable performance – setting himself apart from the tribal antics of the other candidates very well (just a pity the Greens’ manifesto is up the left). 

However, none of this was enough to shake the electorate out of apathy for politics.  No-one cares about the EU – it’s too distant to get enough people away from the opening night of Big Brother and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.  Throw in the expenses scandal, the terrible line-up of mainstream candidates, a Westminster government in disarray, and an Assembly that gets little if anything done, who could blame people for sitting at home?

Perhaps if we added a “None of the Above” box to the voting paper turnout might improve.

DUP Defection to Conservatives

Published June 1, 2009 News , Opinion 1 Comment
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Deirdre%20NelsonI was delighted to read, today, about Councillor Deirdre Nelson’s defection to the Conservative Party. 

It is also particularly gratifying that she chose to defect to the Conservatives rather than the UUP (she chose the real thing rather than some dodgy brand).

I’ve just been reading Councillor Nelson’s biography and it reads like a true Conservative’s.  Well educated, well travelled, with obvious concern for her local community. 

I’m just a tad concerned that her reason for defecting was because of old Ian’s retirement from leadership of the DUP.  Does she regard the new leadership a bit too namby pamby?  Who knows.  But I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and discard any questions in my mind about why anyone would want to be a DUP member in the first place. 

Political conversions are possible s’pose…

Disaster for Unionism? Election Crap.

Published May 28, 2009 News , Opinion Leave a Comment
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The DUP made clear today at the launch of their “manifesto” that a Sinn Fein win would be a disaster for Unionism.  Why?  Surely every time a Shinner gets elected in the Northern Ireland jurisdiction it’s a good thing for unionism because it weakens Sinn Fein’s all-island mandate. 

Because, no matter which way you look at things, the Shinners have signed-up the the Union.  The Good Friday Agreement (and various flavours of Agreement since) has made clear that Northern Ireland’s constitutional future is fixed.  The Shinners can put up as many posters as they wish about Ireland this and Ireland that but the plain fact is that elected representatives from here have no mandate that extends to the Republic – even if they wish to pretend otherwise.  In Europe no-one even cares. 

Which takes us to the DUP’s definition of Unionism.  For the DUP the union has lost all equivalence to Union.  It’s become an Ulster thing.  It’s all about Loyal Orders, gay-bating, Ulsterishness, Ulster-Scots, Blandness, Dourness and Isolation.  It’s about making this place anti-cosmopolitan, separatist and parcohial.  It’s everything the Union isn’t.  Just compare the DUP’s definition of Unionism with a Londoner’s.  A Londoner, confronted with the word “Unionist” thinks of a ranting “Irish” nutter. 

The DUP is, in fact, in a duopolitical union with Sinn Fein.  Sinn Fein is the DUP’s parter with whom it never agrees.  Indeed the DUP/Sinn Fein Union reminds me of an Irish divorce – each partner snipes and yaps about the other.  But they still co-habit.  They share the salaries and expenses.  They rear the kids to take sides.  But, fundamentally, they are sad old gits who should just go their separate ways and leave us all alone, spared from their constant circular bickering that never reachs a conclusion. 

As for the Union, the election has nothing whatsoever to do with it.  As an STV based election it’s not even a very good bell-weather of popular opinion.  The turn-out will be awful.

My postman today handed me a handful of election leaflets muttering, “Here’s a load of election crap.” 

And that’s just what it is.  The DUP’s chest-beating and doom merchanting is just that: crap.  The Union will still be there if the Shinners win.  If the Duppies win the union will be a little worse off, because the DUP has lost all sense of what the union stands for.

Peter and Iris Robinson’s Food Bill

Published May 15, 2009 News Leave a Comment
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In the latest of its revelations the Daily Telegraph has exposed husband and wife team Peter and Iris (“homosexuality viler than child abuse”) Robinson’s food and expense claims. 

The Telegraph makes clear that the Robinsons have not broken any rules.  However, given the amount of time that the couple actually spends on Commons business one really has to question the value for money that local tax-payers are receiving from this quadruple-jobbing money-making machine. 

The couple has claimed nearly £200,000 of mortgage/food expenses related to their London home since 2004.  However, in the last year, Peter Robinson has only spoken in six debates.  He has only voted in 37% of votes – “well below average for most MPs” according to the site TheyWorkForYou.com  It would also appear that only one person has commented on things he has said in his speeches. 

But if Peter’s attendance history is bad, Iris rarely shows to speak or to vote in debates.  She has only spoken in 4 debates in the last year and has voted in just 28% of divisions. 

So while all these expenses are AOK as far as the fees office is concerned one really has to wonder why the Robinsons need to saddle the taxpayer with the costs for all these meals and hundreds of thousands of pounds of mortgage payments on a luxury docklands pad.  After all, they rarely turn-up, rarely vote and rarely speak.

Campaign for Equal Citizenship?

Published May 8, 2009 Opinion 1 Comment
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I was one of the earliest members of the Campaign for Equal Citizenship for Northern Ireland – over 20 years ago.  Along with several of the people currently involved in the Conservative Party here, I sat on the CEC Executive alongside fellow Conservatives (like Barbara Finney and Laurence Kennedy) as well as Socialists like Boyd Black.

I was also the first Chairman of the (Model) Lagan Valley Conservative Association before it was officially recognised by Conservative Central Office.

We established the Conservative Party here specifically because it was NOT the UUP or DUP. It represented something different and non-sectarian. It was about transplanting the politics of the tribe with the politics of the United Kingdom.  For twenty years the Conservative Party has been organised here. But it has never actively sought a mandate to govern Northern Ireland in all those years.

The end game was never about a merger with an orange-steeped, sectarian Party. It was always about the Conservative Party, Labour Party and Liberal Democrat Parties actively organising here and seeking to govern this place properly. It was also about participative democracy.

It was not about about a UUP re-spray.

Mr Nicholson’s campaign posters are note-worthy as the only ones that don’t bear a Party logo. The UUP agreed to the Now For Change ‘badge’ but couldn’t actually countenance using the Conservative Party branding and logo.

People say to me that the UUP’s conversion is a gradual process. Frankly I don’t care. We have missed a great chance to transform Northern Ireland’s politics and democracy. The project, as far as I was concerned, was about establishing mainstream Conservatism here, with the national Party’s commitment to seeking a mandate.

But, frankly, the CEC’s work is far from complete. It has hardly even begun.

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