Ford: Justice Minister won’t be full Executive member…

JUST been reading Turgon’s post on Alliance, and it reminded me that party leader David Ford spelled out his reasons today for why he wouldn’t accept the ministry for policing and justice – assuming it were ever offered. According to Chris Thornton, it was because the proposed job is a “carve-up” that would have diminished powers. Thornton writes: “Party leader David Ford claimed today that the DUP and Sinn Fein do not want the Minister to be a member of the Executive — meaning he or she would have no role in wider issues like the Budget. Mr Ford said the proposals for devolving policing and justice are “unworkable and deeply flawed”. Ford added that the “so-called breakthrough over the Department of Justice amounts to very little”. “Apparently all the DUP and Sinn Fein have proposed is a Minister who would not even be a member of the Executive,” he said. “How could anyone fulfil a role as important as Justice Minister in those circumstances?” Wonder if the SDLP have thought this through…

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