Jeff Peel's Diary

Owen Paterson appeared on Hearts and Minds last night and seemed to commit himself to honouring the government’s financial package relating to the devolution of policing and justice to Northern Ireland.  He stopped short at agreeing to the full package – largely because he doesn’t know what the Prime Minister has offered to Sinn Fein/DUP as yet. 

However, the Conservative Party’s position on the transfer of policing and justice needs to be more clear-cut and less enthusiastic.  At a time when more austerity is required from all UK regions it is utter madness to be agreeing to the transfer of policing and justice to Northern Ireland.  As I have made clear in previous posts on this site there is no public demand for the transfer – and sometimes it feels as if the only demands are coming from those who wish to make the Stormont fiefdom just that little bit bigger i.e. Sinn Fein/DUP. 

Indeed, in terms of the extension of devolution, the DUP and Sinn Fein are very like-minded.  Both are Nationalist Parties.  The DUP is an Ulster Nationalist Party.  One only has to look at how infrequently double-jobbing MPs/MLAs turn up at Westminster to see just how disinterested they are in the affairs of the Union.  They are not really “unionists” – they are Ulster Nationalists.  Similarly, Sinn Fein seems to be coming round to the view that greater power transferred to Stormont at least results in a bit more control from Westminster to “Ireland’s” shores.

But for the rest of us all we see is systematic legislative incompetence at Stormont – stalemate in just about every substantive issue that comes before the Executive.

Owen Paterson needs to make clear that if the financial package offered by the Labour government results in a massive increment above and beyond the current cost of policing and justice then the package will not be honoured by a future Conservative government. 

David Vance, in last night’s Hearts and Minds, made more sense than Paterson.  Devolution of policing and justice should be shelved for the time being.  There is no public demand for it and the cost is too high in a recession.  The Conservatives need to make that point much stronger than they are currently.

A new movie phenomenon is about to burst – a new low-budget movie in the mould of Blair Witch Project.  Called Paranormal Activity this will pander to the lowest common denominator of human thinking – namely the readiness of so many people to accept irrational nonsense as fact.

During the Summer, while lying by a pool somewhere in rural Italy, I read Carl Sagan’s book Demon Haunted World.  This astonishingly well written and supremely articulate book was marred, for me, by the fact that it focused too much on how people had a tendency to believe in such phenomena as extra-terrestrial visits or human abduction by aliens.  I felt Sagan was over-egging things.  But with the release of Paranormal Activity we can see the ready acceptance of metaphysical phenomena as soon as they are suggested.  Suggestions made with only the cheapest film techniques, lots of low-light action, and loud bangs, are all that’s needed to convince people that such phenomena are real. 

Film makers are notorious for taking advantage of ignorance and naivety.  Apparently the producers of this latest parcel of nonsense have had to convince film-goers that they need to lobby to have the thing shown in local movie houses.  No doubt this latest ‘viral marketing’ technique was thought up to further ‘engage’ the audience – getting them to demand that this be shown rather than merely padding down to the nearest multiplex and scanning the ‘what’s on’ boards. 

As a Conservative I wouldn’t deny people their rights to see this.  But this type of filmic nonsense sets humanity back just a little.  It takes advantage of the most easily influenced and makes it more difficult for those of us who would like society to make decisions based on logic rather than superstitious rubbish. 

And, of course, there’s every likelihood that Jeffrey Donaldson, and those like him who are fond of in-room movies, might just be tempted to select this from the in-room movie menu.  Then, even our elected representives might end up being just a little less sane and rational.