Murphy would have stuck to 11 to 15 councils

The former Secretary of State for NI, Paul Murphy, seems to be making it clear that he is not in complete agreement with the current Secretary of State Peter Hain on the two big issues of the week. During the debate on the Northern Ireland [Offences] Bill, he recommended the goverment seriously consider amendments to the Bill [Hansard has his comments here] and, today, the BBC are reporting his comments on the Review of Public Administration – “I’m absolutely sure I would have stuck to that sort of number [the 11 to 15 council model] before.” Unlike other examples of dissenting from official party lines, disciplinary proceedings are not expected..

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