DUP and Sinn Fein vote down Jim Allister’s SPAD bill

Jim Allister is back with a SPAD bill (not that one) this piece of legislation would have placed a cap on pay and the number of SPADs that can be employed. Northern Ireland currently spends over £2 million per year on SPADs which is double the cost of Scotland and three times that of Wales.

A few months ago Jim Allister wrote for Slugger setting out his case for reform of the system.

Alas it appears that business as usual returned to the chamber today to defeat the bill. The DUP and Sinn Fein voted down Jim Allister’s bill 52-33. The SDLP, Alliance and UUP backed the bill.

The entire farce of this situation was captured by the SDLP today who tweeted

Another day in Gotham City……

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