Bye Ken, nice to have had your support
WITHDRAWING the whip, it could be something out of Fifty
Shades of Grey, but in political terms it is more than a slap.
So when the party whip was withdrawn from Lord Maginnis, as
a result of his comments about homosexuality, he subsequently resigned from the
Ulster Unionist Party. This has triggered further speculation from commentators
about the acceleration of the party’s decline.
The situation does raise one pertinent question; what the
UUP is all about? From the urban centres and the commenting corridors of
Parliament Buildings, Lord Maginnis’s comments, that homosexuality was
“unnatural and deviant”, made him seem like a doddering Diplodocus [That’s a
dinosaur for the non-literate]. From the rural perspective, where much of much
the party faithful reside, it is maybe not so.
Given the war of words that erupted over Health Minister
Edwin Poots ban on gay men donating blood, perhaps Lord Maginnis is speaking
out on behalf of the church-going, God-fearing folks? If so this presents UUP
leader Mike Nesbitt with a problem. If he wants to contrast his vision of an
open, liberal challenger to DUP dogma, there may be many more of Lord
Maginnis’s ilk ready to call out their safety word and head for the exit.
Can you contain yourself?
C’MON we know that the Olympics and Paralympics have been a
welcome distraction, but let’s face it you can hardly contain yourself now that
the return of the Assembly is just over a week away.
Next week there are a few committee meetings to warm up the
MLAs before the first Plenary Session of the autumn term.
Seasoned observers will be sitting down musing on the future
programme of pointless debates and wittering on about legislation.
We, of course, will be taking it seriously – pens and typing
fingers primed, lobbying and campaigning heads screwed on tight, and monitoring
every deep breath of an MLA.
However, be aware that like school children arriving back
after the summer holidays the MLAs will be faced with a significant shock at
the sudden adjustment.
And they’ll also be faced with the reappearance of the
corporate begging bowl. First up will be NI Water. NI Water made a profit of £133m, but they
want money to better prepare against flooding. Now, why would they want more
money when they made a profit? The answer is simple and strange. All their
profit goes back to Department of Regional Development.
Norn Iron’s public sector exists in such a strange world
that if you do a good job you must hand back your profits. Then you can go cap
in hand to ask for some money back. All this profit may even put the debate on
NI Water privatisation on hold. After all, why kill the golden goose?
What this highlights is that streamlining Government may
become a task that could confuse even the great mind of Professor Stephen
Hawking. Splitting the Department of Employment and Learning, if achieved, will
be akin to splitting the atom. While reforming local government will be like
finding life on Mars.
So, with all this fun time ahead we can’t but be eager to
see what way it all pans out.