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.
I think the problem with your financial hypothesis is suggesting that any UK Government would abandon the policing and justice requirements of NI, if they are really needed for exceptional reasons and possibly threaten UK security, is not a sustainable arguement.
The money will be found in the exchequer where ever the control lies so there is no real difference in the cost, and any attempt by the DUP or Brown to spin it differently is plainly luicrous.
Brown is supposedly writing a cheque to get the last part of the GFA done on his watch and in his bio, the cheque however will be cashed persumably when the Tories are in power.
The other part however is correct the Executive is not working and should not have P&J devolved until it is, that said I suspect it is on a very long DUP finger which may well strectch past May.
I don’t know if you have read the Scotland on Sunday paper but yesterday’s edition carried a story about the Orange Order preparing to consider backing the Labour Party in order tp prevent Scottish Independance and there was an interview with Ian Wilson grand master in Scotland who said his mother who is 86 and a Scottish Unionist (their name before they adopted the term Conservative in 1965) would be appalled at his organisation getting into bed with the Labour Party a s a lot felt it was contaminated by Catholics.I would be very interested into seeing what your views are on this?