Lee Reynolds

Tony Blair may have made some history he rather wouldn’t have. He may be the first serving Prime Minister to be questioned in an ongoing criminal investigation. The interview wasn’t under caution.Interestingly the official spokesperson drew an interesting distinction about the ‘type’ of peerages the investigation relates to: “The prime minister explained why he nominated each of the individuals and he did so as party leader in respect of the peerages reserved for party supporters as other party leaders do. …

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Brian Feeney rallies to Sinn Fein’s defence on policing. He is outraged that the media dare ask Sinn Fein to urge people to co-operate with police even when investigating issues like rape as apparently no Unionist is ever asked to urge people to go to the police and this proves the media has a ‘Unionist agenda’. For Feeney’s theory to work all you have to do is ignore the existence of the SDLP and its support for the police. Also …

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A Sinn Fein delegation headed by Gerry Adams is meeting with Sir Hugh Orde, Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. In interviews over the past weeks Sinn Fein representatives have outlined four preconditions on policing; a timetable for devolution, structure of the Department, no role for MI5 and no inquiries into past activities. Gerry Adams added a further two before the meeting; an end to ‘political policing’ and desisting in the use of plastic bullets: “We will …

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The Iranian Foreign Ministry is holding a two day conference about the Holocaust. A spokesman said the conference would ask two questions: “The first question to be posed is: Did the Holocaust actually happen or not? And the second one is: If it did happen, what was the scale of it?” The conference is partly a response to governments defending the printing of Danish cartoons that offended Muslims under the principle of free speech. Lee Reynolds

The Scottish Media Group and Ulster Television have re-opened merger talks. Lee Reynolds

The Republic of Ireland’s Competition Authority has called for root and branch reform of legal services. It argues that: “the market for legal services is permeated with unnecessary and disproportionate restrictions on competition and is in need of substantial reform” As the Irish system is closely modelled on the British system should the UK be looking on with interest? Lee Reynolds

The Conservatives have released their policy analysis of poverty, main report here (pdf file). . It argues that in 21st century UK there are five “routes” to poverty: economic dependence and worklessness; family breakdown; addictions; educational failure and debt. (Note all are pdf files) It concludes that: “we need a system that understands that while material deprivation must continue to be dealt with, poverty isn’t just an issue of money; while money is important, so is the quality of the …

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Ulsterman Darren Clarke lost out to Zara Philips in this year’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Lee Reynolds

Former NIO minister John Spellar is proposing a bit of RPA treatment for the Labour Party, abolish the position of Deputy Leader and end the present contest. While Hain agree? Lee Reynolds

Eric Waugh dissents from direct rule being the source of our collective ills and questions the willingness of our local parties to take tough decisions: “One reason we now face a brutal collision with higher rates, water charges and closing schools is that the Executive and the Assembly, when in office, brazenly funked facing these problems – because they knew each of them would involve taking unpopular decisions.” Lee Reynolds

An extract from The Redneck Manifesto: “…why shouldn’t certain pale-skinned bipeds bristle when outsiders snipe at rednecks, hayseeds, bumpkins, crackers, hillbillies, pecker-woods, Bubbas, yokels, lintheads, shit-kickers and poor white trash. Anyway you slice the liverwurst, it seems like b-i-g-otry. But the ‘neck-negaters, the trash compactors, the hill-bullies, excuse their fire-breathing with an inventive alibi -“WE can’t be b-i-g-o-ted – REDNECKS are the b-i-g-o-t-s.” It’s like, “He hit me FIRST, mom!”. They deflect attention from their own prejudices by hating the …

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Dr John Sweeney, a climatologist, is warning that the likely impact of global warming on Northern Ireland is too much water in winter i.e. flooding and too little in summer ie drought. He believes the Water Service needs to prepare by building more reservoirs. Lee Reynolds

David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, presents a short film on the importance of design in combatting crime and anti-social behaviour. Lee Reynolds

The Policing and Justice sub-committee is to hold its inaugural meeting with a progress report required in early January. Meanwhile Sinn Fein’s policing spokesperson, Gerry Kelly, has received PSNI notification of a dissident threat to his life. Lee Reynolds

The Public Accounts Committee has strongly criticised the lack of impact of the Department of Education’s £40m literacy and numeracy programme (Full report here pdf file). The problem is also particularly acute in Protestant working class communities. Labour MP Ian Davidson said there is: “an enormous discrepancy between Catholic and Protestant children…This is particularly in Belfast, in working class areas, which we find very difficult to explain…What was absolutely clear was that in Northern Ireland, (Catholic) youngsters from deprived working …

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A Human Rights Forum is to be estalished to take forward the Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. The debate around this Bill involves very important questions. How far beyond the European Convention does the Bill need to go? Should the emphasis be upon negative or positive rights? Are civil and political protections sufficient? What about cultural rights? How far should it venture into social and economic rights if at all? All of these will have significant consequences for local …

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The NI Audit Office has questioned the Department of Finance and Personnel’s use of its borrowing power for the Reform and Reinvestment Initiative (Full report here pdf file). So far £411m has been borrowed but the Audit office believes that capital under-spends should have made such borrowings unnecessary or significantly reduced. It highlights that if this free attitude to borrowing continues and the full £2bn is borrowed it will lead to a large bill for NI ratepayers: Should DFP access …

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The Northern Ireland Human Rights Council’s two-day conference, Building a Human Rights Culture in Northern Ireland, starts today. The NIHRC says its role is “to ensure that the human rights of everyone in Northern Ireland are fully and firmly protected in law, policy and practice.” However, does it practice what it preaches? The most significant assault by government upon our human rights is the ID Card Scheme and National Identity Register. Human rights group Liberty believes it has the potential …

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A four member DUP delegation met with Tony Blair yesterday in what was described as a useful meeting. After the meeting Nigel Dodds called upon government and Sinn Fein to “get on with it” as “time is of the essence”. Lee Reynolds

The Fijian Army has removed the Prime Minister and government in a coup. The tensions between the army and government stem from a government plan to give an amnesty to leaders of an ethnic Fijian coup attempt in 2000, that the army helped to stop and plans to reserve particular land for ethnic Fijians. The army feared such moves would destabilise racial tensions on the island (50% Fijian, 44% Indian) and in a recent election on these issues the vote …

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