“This is bad, unacceptable Government..”

The Belfast Telegraph has gotten hold of a leaked memo from the Finance Minister, the DUP’s Peter Robinson, which, contrary to the figure quoted in the official report, calculates the cost of a Maze stadium at £379m over the next seven years. The paper quotes the ministerial memo

And the memo, sent to ministers by Mr Robinson, added: “The case is unusual in that both accounting officers have concluded that a value for money case has not been demonstrated.”

And they have some political reaction – with Sinn Féin’s Paul Butler threatening to veto any alternative, again – and from the UUP

[UUP] deputy leader Danny Kennedy accused the First Ministers’ Office of ” a year of incompetence and indecision”, and pointed out his party has tabled a motion calling on Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness to set up a Maze Development Corporation along the lines of the Laganside Corporation. “The site at the Maze has been lying idle for years, while the First Minister’s Office has spent millions of pounds on consultations. This is bad, unacceptable Government and we need to see movement on the Maze,” he said.