Jim Nicholson MEP doesn’t tweet any more…
If twitter accounts are anything to go by, then Jim Nicholson, the Ulster Unionist Party’s lone representative in Europe, doesn’t really seem to care. His last tweet was on August 15, 2009. The Euro elections were also in 2009. Since his re-election he hasn’t much bothered to tweet. Prior to his last tweet on August 15 he tweeted 196 times. Since then, nothing.
I suspect the main reason for this is that Nicholson has never actually mastered the tweet. I suspect someone was tweeting for him. His twitter account links to VoteforChangeNI.com – a site that was created by the Conservative Party and UUP. But the domain, no doubt, was not renewed.
However, there is something bizarrely eloquent about this dumbed twitter account. The last tweet, with a dead link, says simply, “Labour letting down NI’s Pensioners.” And then Mr Nicholson says nothing else. Struck mute and his 1,116 followers left hanging, waiting for the next instalment, the next rajor-sharp tweet that never comes.
But the question hanging in the sky, with the birds, is does Mr Nicholson know he has a twitter account – and does he care? I suspect not on both counts. And why does he not care? The following extract might help explain.
“MEPs are paid an average £83,000 per year, compared to MPs in Britain, who have an annual salary of £65,738. They also receive a daily “subsistence allowance” of £265, they can be refunded up to £3,600 per year for other travel outside their own country, and be reimbursed for up to 24 return journeys within their own country. Members also receive up to £242,000 annually in staff salaries and office expenses and benefit from a generous health care and pension system. It is estimated that an MEP can cost around £400,000-a-year.”
Having just had a look at his website it’s hard to see what productive output we get for £400K a year (About £9M since he was first elected). With only four questions asked in 2011 (£100K/question!) and no substantial interventions that I could see it appears there is not much heavy lifting being done on our behalf.
According to the site his last ‘speech’ (276 words) was in October last year. His longest speech of 2011 ran to 418 words. Those words included the following, “We have got to look at how we spend the money. Are we spending our money as wisely as we can? Is there not too much of it going on administration? Is there not too much going on bureaucracy and red tape”?
Absolutely right and a good place to start economising would be with cost of MEPs.
I would say that he cares if he wants to get re-elected. I suspect he has been re-elected for the last time and wishes to retire. Who could blame him?
Imaging having to talk regularly with Diane Dodds and Barbara de Brun?
Must be a party trend. Mike Nesbitts blog has died a death since he was elected leader.
Then again, he must be very busy holding the party together!
Richard you may be right about the UUP.However we have been waiting months now for the so called re launch of the NI Conservatives a new party which seems to have been kicked into the long grass.When will it be launched Richard I myself think it will not be launched and it will die and be moth balled.
John this is a valid question. I have trailed the imminent launch of the new ‘thing’ but it appears to have died a death. I attended (as a guest) a Strangford Conservatives ‘do’ last Friday night – hoping that I’d get the vibe re. the new NI Conservatives – or whatever it’s going to be called. But it was a case of people looking at their shoes when I mentioned it. It feels like we have been set back 20 years or so in terms of Party organisation. UCUNF destroyed all credibility that the Conservative Party had here. Owen Paterson – and, I’m sure, his fellow front bench colleagues – appear to have written off any prospect of Party organisation here. Although they seem to believe that UCUNF was representative of how well the Party could do here. We all know it isn’t – and that it was an unmitigated disaster. But then that’s what comes from doing dirty little deals with a nasty, wizened little UUP.
Jeff,
I totally agree. What is really depressing to me is the lack of vision and insight amongst people within conversavtive officialdom in Northern Ireland. They seem to decide on their political objectives before understanding what they are capable of achieving. When they finally come to realising that changes have to be made, those changes are ineffective because they are compromised by compromise. They are also too slow to move because:- (a) they have an archaic system of decision-making; and (b) they have been too slow to read, analyse, understand and react to the manoeuvres of the UUP.
Although much of the problem is lack of insight and capability amongst elected committee members locally, most of the fault for what has happened lies at the very top. Mr. Cameron has known, for a long time, that the Conservative Party needs to allow both the Scottish and Northern Irish branches of the party to be independent if it wants to be a political force in those regions within a generation. The trouble is, career politicians always prioritise the ‘here’ and the ‘now’. Come the next general election, if it suits the Conservatives to sell its soul to the DUP for a few extra seats in Parliament, they will do so. In fact, they probably already know that they will. I think the NI party (and whatever succeeds it) is being set up to fail. Like prisoners on death row, they will be kept alive until it suits the main party to carry out their execution.
Seymour I agree. CCHQ seems to have little interest in catalysing secular politics here never mind Conservatism. Owen Paterson appears to have resigned himself to zero progress in terms of the Conservative brand. He assumes that a rejection of UCUNF was a rejection of Conservatism. It wasn’t. So your analysis that buddying up to the DUP is inevitable is probably accurate.
You won;t have to wait much longer John. Expect it very soon.
It was good to see you Friday night Jeff, sorry I didn’t get more time to talk to you.
Like in the past we usually agree on 99% but I thought Owen’s comments on UCUNF were very fair. If the strategy had been right more votes would have translated into seats, and the level of votes was still significant.
But if Owen gave the indication that UCUNF equalled Conservatism, and he has resigned himself to zero progress, he is not in tune with CCHQ or the NI Conservatives.
On the contrary, for relations, positivity and finance from CCHQ has never been higher. Support from the top is strong and a clear strategy is in place over an extended period, to further the cause here.
You will see more and more evidence of this in the course of the next year and it won’t involve pacts with other parties otherwise the troops will have left the battlefield!!
Richard, it was a pity that we didn’t get the chance to talk more on Friday. I hope you noticed that I didn’t react at all to Owen’s public imploring that I rejoin the Party. It was tricky for me to button my lip – but I managed. Owen has today made clear that his Cornerstone principles are getting in the way of common sense and public mood over gay marriage. Frankly I think there is merit in the local Conservatives distancing themselves (I might even say ‘ourselves’ if the formula can be right) from CCHQ and CCHQ funding. Perhaps a seed fund. That would be good. And Party affiliation. But beyond that the NI Conservatives need to be self-determining – creating policy distinct from the odd-ball coalition at Westminster. We can argue for small state, low taxes, social liberalism without any need to hang on the coat-tails of CCHQ – or the UCUNF baggage.
The party here certainly needs more of a local flavour and become less dependent on CCHQ. I am all in favour of more automany and decisions being made here rather than London in regard to the future of conservatism here, so I largely agree with what you are saying.
I would be less than honest if I said I didn’t understand or sympathise with the doubt and cynicism expressed here in your blog and by your correspondents, but if we give up now without a fight it leaves us nothing left but these dreadful local parties.
I’m not aware of what Owen has said about gay marriage but there seems to be a lot of opposition among members and our stand at the balmoral show last week took a bit of a battering about it from the public.
Socially I have been always very liberal and would class myself a libertarian. I have no objection to gay marriage in principle although I would have thought civil partnership conveys much the same rights.
Here you go…
Frankly I’m not that hot and bothered about it either. In the scheme of things it’s not that big a deal. Marriage, civil partnership. Much of a muchness. But objection tends to derive from church sanctification. Doctrinal/liturgical objections to policy positions – simply not a good idea.
But as for the local party being more autonomous – well the writing is on the wall. I didn’t want devo. But it’s here. Given Nelson “Lost Tribe of Israel” McCausland’s method of policy creation based on Protestant primacy – well I think we could do better than that. Surely.
I’m happy to have a chat face to face – with you all. We can kick this into shape.
The problem is Jeff that people who think you can enshrine religion in secular law are totally blinkered in their view.
I had a lengthy discussion with a woman at the balmoral show who seemed to think what she regarded as God’s law should be the law of the land.
That simply isn’t practical and if it were we would be executing gays and stoning prostitutes. I am exaggerating somewhat but where do you stop? absolute Sunday closures?
I have no doubt that people like McCausland would like to if they thought they could get away with it.
I regretted you leaving the party Jeff but totally understood your reasons at the time. In a similar position I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same.
You have my e-mail address if you would like to meet sometime.
Thank you for your Reply Richard however I am very very doubtful there will ever be a re launch.The party has been dithering as bad as the UUP on this issue i myself like a lot of folk think the parties days here are numbered.
John, I gather the “new Party” launch is on June 14. Will be interesting to see what interest there will be.