Brian Walker

I’ve just had drawn to my attention the remarkable recantation of his former position as the father of an all singing, all dancing Northern Ireland Human Rights Bill by Professor Brice Dickson the first Commissioner, to Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights. Prof Dickson resigned in a state of some chaos and acrimony, to be replaced by Monica McWilliams. In a memo of appalling frankness, he rejects many of the premises and conclusions of his own massive efforts and the …

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A blind refusal to compromise is as silly as the rush to take offence. Is there any chance Slugger can find the elusive route to sanity? Brian WalkerFormer BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London

With the fate of much of the mainstream media in the melting pot, I offer this encomium from Simon Jenkins. “As for the antics of the press, victim of Speaker Martin’s wrath, I cannot see what the Telegraph has done wrong. It presumably paid for material that had been stolen and which it has published. It thus offends the rule against profiting from crime. But a more glaring public interest defence cannot be imagined. Publication was the only way to …

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The MPs’ allowances firestorm will be remembered for the firefighting role played by David Cameron. The firebreak he’s cleared puts him in pole position to win the premiership. Despite lengthening poll leads, Cameron up to today had failed to create the breakthrough moment. But now, the crown of the premiership is his to lose. It wasn’t rocket science to demand paybacks but it was great politics to hear the smack of firm leadership which Gordon Brown has so conspicuously failed …

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Just in case you didn’t know, the NI property boom (RIP) has earned BBC network attention. Apart from Newry, Londonderry and Lisburn, the fastest-rising house prices of all were in a county whose name had been associated for three decades with army watchtowers and the hard men of the IRA. Perhaps the fall in bottoming out – just like the recession itself? Brian WalkerFormer BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current …

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What a clever move by Cameron to steal a march on Brown and bring in his own expenses reform. Your move, Gordon. The Prime Minister has the bigger problem. If the Chancellor, flipping Alistair Darling was ordered to pay back his second home allowance claims, it would be a serious blow to his prestige and authority. Initially, Mr Darling claimed that 11 Downing Street – the Chancellor’s residence – was his “second home”. Under parliamentary rules, this meant that the …

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Today, it’s the turn of the Tory huntin’ shootin’ and fishin’ squirearchy to be exposed. But has the scale of the disaster sunk in? Headless chickens is the irresistible cliche. Fears that Labour will take the bigger hit are easing, but offer little comfort. Definite signs are emerging that show that the public are turning away from both, with unpredictable results for British politics. In another blow to Parliament, the last shred of illusion was torn away from the office …

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You have to remember that political commentators are closer to politicians than they are to the public. Most knew that something stank in the MPs’ allowances system. Some feel guilty that they didn’t probe the expenses scam sooner. Others will make excuses. Pro-Tory Bruce Anderson pleads for main party unity to reform the system. Mike White in the Guardian makes a pretty thin case in arguing that the Telegraph favoured the Conservatives by exposing Labour first. Columnist Jackie Ashley thrashes …

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Somehow after the first jolts, the impact doesn’t seem so severe, now that it’s the turn of the Conservatives. Even so, the pattern is the much the same as with Labour. David Cameron got his “sorry” in just before publication. And oh yes, you may like to know how Tony Blair managed to afford that £3.65 million Connaught Square mansion… Extracts “Michael Gove, the shadow education secretary, spent more than £7,000 in five months furnishing a London property in 2006 …

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The best hope for Labour now is that the public becomes so punch drunk with bad news that they will be able to find a firebreak sometime early next year and start again. The worst fear is that voting this year and next will be so low that any government will lack the authority to govern in a recession. Beware of exaggerating the crisis in the most stable political system in the western world, but it can’t be denied, we’re …

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Sinn Fein MPs’ expenses were already revealed last month, along with Jacqui Smith’s husband’s porn videos and the 88p bath plug. What the Sunday Telegraph adds is local witnesses at the properties involved. Here we have it, the shadowy presence, the rentals that seem higher than current market value, the oddly uniform claims for TVs etc. All of it, just another example of typical Sinn Fein solidarity. When Gordon Brown announced last month that Sinn Fein abstentionism would be given …

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Despite the kerfuffle over the MPs’ expenses scandal, it’s still the economy, stupid. The Guardian sounds the alarm. “Bank of England braced for third wave of financial crisis. Surprise £50bn cash injection is attempt to avert new phase of credit crunch.” The FT contextualises better. The boldness of the Bank’s plan shows it is prepared to risk future inflation to prevent deflation today. Deflation would have far more damaging consequences for a highly indebted economy like the UK, bringing spending …

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The story has got hotter. The biggest scam, it’s now clear, is entering the property business by switching second homes, doing them up on exes and in some cases, making a profit on the sale. The second home switch has even acquired a homely name suitable for a scam – “flipping.” Sounds like petty crime, doesn’t it? Even if it fell “within the rules.” Upping the anti, the Telegraph’s political editor Andrew Porter accused MPs of being “ on the …

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Over an NI Crunchtalk, Joanna Stuart of the Institute of Directors posts the results of a survey on the Bank Lending Conditions last month. It shows that over 50% of businesses in NI have found bank lending conditions more difficult since the turn of the year. This was an increase of 10% on the national picture, which probably reflects the fact that we are predominantly an SME economy. I ask: why is there “a lack of knowledge and almost no …

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You couldn’t make it up. But the fear is, some of them did, once all 1 million MPs’ receipts come under merciless scrutiny. The Torygraph splashes nine full pages of leaks of MPs’ expenses, starting with the Cabinet and with lots more to come. They were all braced for official release in July but the Telegraph has drawn a bead on them and denied them advance spin. This is not corruption on anything like a Haughey scale ( 45 million …

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“That it is possible to charge for content on the web is obvious from the Wall Street Journal’s experience,” says Rupert Murdoch. “The current days of the internet are over” Well if they are, we’ll all be the poorer for it. I always thought it was ironic that the papers which reported money, the WSJ and the FT, charged for content (although the FT allows you so many free hits a month). Charging for specialist content is one thing, paying …

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I’m not, you understand, any kind of mad royalist or unionist but isn’t here something slightly woebegone about the Queen’s programme in Northern Ireland? The down- the- bulletin coverage it has received is not only a sign of the times but shows the lack of something to grab attention. Last year’s visit, the first Royal Maundy service outside England at Armagh was symbolically adequate and interesting. Limiting this year’s to the level of the modest but no doubt very worthy …

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The banks got us into this and the banks must get us out of it. Robert Peston is not the only commentator to lay out the arguments in favour of calling the lynch mobs off the hated financial sector. “Statements today by Barclays and Lloyds indicate that banks should be over the worst.” Whatever happened to all those demands for tougher regulation? Peston touches on the debate that the EU haven’t the competence to lay down a new regulatory framework. …

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Willie Graham in the Irish News has done a fascinating little round-up of opinion on Assembly performance after two years, headed by a very diplomatic Rick Wilford, professor of politics at Queen’s and probably the leading academic analyst. Rick plumps for an Executive of 7, including Alliance for J&P, thus opening the door to the designation “other” for seats round the table. Wouldn’t it be great if…?? Wilford extracts. The same kind of unity of purpose ( shown after the …

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The choice is whether to retain all DNA records of the guilty and innocent alike for 12 years as the Home Secretary has just announced for England, Wales and by default, Northern Ireland. Or to follow to Scotland, where: ..at present, anyone who has their DNA taken as part of a police inquiry in Scotland – presently around 4,000 people-a-month – automatically has it removed if they are not convicted. The only exceptions are for individuals who remain part of …

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