“What do people normally keep in the basement?”

Also on Stormont Today, BBC NI’s Jim Fitzpatrick had some fun with his newly acquired, thanks to his fellow basement dweller, press [pass] freedom and went on a quick tour of the Assembly building. [Will there still be “stupid” questions? – Ed] Probably.. Apparently, along with a new code of conduct for MLAs, it’s part of the NI Assembly’s public outreach programme.. Adds Jim’s fellow basement dweller notes an interesting pointBrian Wilson argued that the clause had the potential to open “a can of worms”.
That interesting point in full

One aspect of the new code which should prove interesting is the section which deals with the expression of political opinions. The Standards Committee says “Members are entitled to legally express any political opinion that they may hold. In doing so, however, Members should have regard to the Principles of Conduct and should not express opinions in a manner that is manifestly in conflict with the Principles of Conduct.”

Since those principles will now include four new ones related to “Respect; Equality; Promoting Good Relations; and Good Working Relationships”, Committee members believe that any racist or homophobic remarks would fall foul of the rules. This applies to remarks uttered outside the chamber, not within it. There could be some interesting test cases, and one MLA the Greens Brian Wilson argued that the clause had the potential to open “a can of worms”.

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.