Parties – Page 97 – Slugger O'Toole

Blogburst: Tory lifeswap as Cameron plays Mainwaring to Grayling’s Sergeant Wilson..

Mick Fealty on October 7, 2009, 9:20 pm

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Kicking off, here’s a nice little communication mess that gives rather too much away about the detachment of the Eton Rifles from the Grammar School brigade… and what LibDem blogger Mark Thompson reckons (blogged here) is a rather nasty play on the part of David Cameron that the Tory leader may come to regret… And that’s not mention this typically perceptive note from Melanie Philips on the void that is Tory party foreign policy…- (via Mark Coughlan) John O’Donoghue is …

What does this crisis mean for the future of Irish democracy?

Mick Fealty on October 7, 2009, 5:54 pm

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Irishelection.com is asking all the right questions of this crisis… As Cian notes (and it is worth following a few of their internal backlinks just to see the depth and quality of some of the debate over there during the last few days and weeks)… Yes, JOD needs to go, yes he is sacrificial and yes he is an egregious example of wasteful expense. Yet the whole system is screwed up. Take a look at thestory.ie – they have documents …

“This is not a crime in Ireland, or even a misdemeanour.”

Pete Baker on October 7, 2009, 3:28 pm

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In the Irish Times, Miriam Lord’s sketch of events in the Dáil yesterday, which led to the promise of Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue’s resignation, is, as always, worth a read. But it’s Frank McNally’s Irishman’s Diary which gets closest to the actualité. I HAVEN’T seen the charge formally levelled against him yet anywhere. But it seems to me that what John O’Donoghue stands accused of, fundamentally, is that on a specified number of dates between about 2005 and 2009, he …

Gilmore comes out from the shadows over O’Donoghue…

Mick Fealty on October 7, 2009, 2:11 pm

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The quiet that greeted Labour leader Eamon Gilmore when he made his big play in the Dail yesterday and set the agenda for the John O’Donoghue’s rather hurried and undignified departure from Office of Ceann Comhairle. In one deft move (having given Fianna Fail leader Brian Cowen enough rope to hang himself with) this intervention lead to the issuing of JOD’s announcement of his pending resignation at just after 10 last night… Forget the rights and wrongs of the reasons …

Tory dither on European referendum…

Mick Fealty on October 6, 2009, 11:07 pm

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Clipped and cut courtesy of UKIP… Worth sticking it out to the end, for Boris’s top drawer dither… And Norman Lamont’s thoughts about just how quickly the Tories may be thinking about cutting debt… If you are a devolved minister with responsibility for finances, then be afraid, be very afraid… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking …

South Belfast UUP goes rogue?

Pete Baker on October 6, 2009, 10:21 pm

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It would seem that some within the UUP haven’t quite grasped, or perhaps haven’t accepted, the long-term strategy behind their link-up with the Conservative Party. As the BBC’s Mark Devenport reports The Ulster Unionists and DUP should discuss running a single unionist candidate in South Belfast, local UUP constituency members have said. In a letter to UUP leader Sir Reg Empey, the Ulster Unionist Association suggested the move was needed to retake the Westminster seat from the SDLP. The move …

“Given the strong consensus we have decided to move forward now..”

Pete Baker on October 6, 2009, 5:59 pm

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The Northern Ireland Criminal Justice Minister, Paul Goggins, MP, has confirmed “a raft of radical new proposals” to tackle low level crime. As the statement details, and as previously noted, everyone involved is on the same page. Worth noting that, of the political parties, only Sinn Féin are listed as having responded to the public consultation on the proposals, and only to one part of them – Alternatives to Prosecution Consultation [pdf file] – although the summary doesn’t detail whether …

Money well spent?

Pete Baker on October 6, 2009, 5:35 pm

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The Irish Times has the self-declared amounts spent by the various parties and groups on the Lisbon II campaign. AT LEAST €3.5 million was spent by the main groups campaigning for and against the Lisbon Treaty, while the Referendum Commission spent under €4 million. Political parties said they spent about €1.47 million, including contributions from European Parliament groups, while various civil society groups and corporations revealed spending of about €2 million. From the IT report The cost: what the main …

The MLAs who didn’t make their own private members motion…

Mick Fealty on October 6, 2009, 3:28 pm

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On today’s schedule at Stormont was a private members motion entitled: Protestant Student Exodus… – Proposed: That this Assembly calls on the Minister for Employment and Learning to bring forward measures to attract, and ensure that, students from a Protestant background are encouraged to opt for universities in Northern Ireland as their first choice, rather than universities in the rest of the United Kingdom. Only, in the event, neither member actually made it to the house for the beginning of …

“I’m taking the British Prime Minister at his word.”

Pete Baker on October 6, 2009, 3:12 am

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After UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s visit today the BBC reports that Tuesday will see further talks in Downing St on the devolution of justice powers and ‘stability’. The iol report has more comprehensive quotes. From the Northern Ireland deputy First Minister, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness – “I’m taking the British Prime Minister at his word, he is saying this process, this negotiation, will not fail on account of the funding issues”. And from the NI First Minister Mr Robinson …

“I would hope that’s not what they’re saying.”

Pete Baker on October 4, 2009, 11:06 pm

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If you saw the Politics Show today you may have noted NI First Minister Peter Robinson’s studied look of incredulity during the exchange transcribed here. The DUP leader having dismissed NI Secretary of State Shaun Woodward’s “devolve justice, get investment” argument – “God bless Shaun, but I’ve seen him with better arguments at his disposal in the past.” – Jim Fitzpatrick followed up by linking the devolution of policing and justice powers with continued stability – “But they have raised …

Are the Tories now planning a staged and inelegant climbdown over Lisbon?

Mick Fealty on October 4, 2009, 1:27 pm

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Danny Finklestein lays out what Dave is likely to do over Lisbon. And he doesn’t think, if William Hague is formulating the party’s response to Ireland’s emphatic yes to Lisbon, that Lisbon will figure until the changes have been made (and it looks like the much hoped for resistance from his political ally and Polish president Lech Kaczy´nski is collapsing) we will hear anything much about it in Manchester this week: Once bits of the Lisbon treaty have been implemented, …

Human Rights Act: A thoroughly Churchillian piece of legislation…

Mick Fealty on October 4, 2009, 11:50 am

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Peter Oborne has an Op Ed in today’s Guardian (opposite, in fact, a nicely edited piece of my own condensed thoughts on Lisbon), doing what he is so good at: upsetting a few conventional applecarts, ahead of a book co-written by Jesse Norman and himself for Liberty published later today: Conservative critics are wrong to say that the rights of the act are in general socioeconomic entitlements. In fact, they are absolutely fundamental to the British common law tradition. They …

David Cameron set to confound his critics over Lisbon…?

Mick Fealty on October 3, 2009, 11:28 pm

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Labour Matters compares David Cameron’s 2007 pledge (in The Sun) to give the people of the UK a referendum come what may, and this morning’s presser from campaign headquarters which shows the leader of the Conservative party. They rather leap on Paul Waugh’s conclusion that the first gives ‘Honest Dave’ no wriggle room: “Today, I will give this cast-iron guarantee: If I become PM, a Conservative government will hold a referendum on any EU treaty that emerges from these negotiations.? …

“but I can’t give a blank cheque.”

Pete Baker on October 3, 2009, 7:51 pm

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Whilst everyone is on the same page… Conservative Party leader David Cameron has been commenting on the ongoing row over the devolution of policing and justice powers. From the BBC report Mr Cameron said there was a great deal of cross-party consensus on the issue. “We all want to see devolution of law and justice as part of the devolution process,” he said. “We’ve always said you’ve got to have confidence on all sides before it can happen properly. “But …

On the same page on policing

Pete Baker on October 2, 2009, 10:31 pm

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It looks like everyone is on the same page on policing here. An internal police review, under Hugh Orde, commented unfavourably on the time spent on paperwork. The NI Justice Minister, Paul Goggins, MP, and the NIO, are reportedly about to introduce streamlined action to deal with low-level crimes. And the new Chief Constable wants to free his officers from the “tyranny of too much red tape”. Is there anyone I’ve forgotten? Pete Baker

The truth hurts, or the DUP’s little blue book on how to improve community relations page 154…

Mick Fealty on October 2, 2009, 2:16 pm

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H/T to Michael S for the link and the second part of the headline… It seems Mid Ulster MLA Ian McCrea has made remarks regarding the beliefs of the majority of Protestants about the Pope… Note: original text amended as per RS’s remarks below… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and …

“The only people creating instability are those who are trying to whip up a crisis.”

Pete Baker on October 1, 2009, 9:00 pm

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With former and current NI DETI Ministers, the DUP’s Nigel Dodds and Arlene Foster, criticising the NI Secretary of State, BBC NI political editor Mark Devenport takes a suitably sceptical line on the “devolve justice, get investment” argument. [Does that apply to Wales too? – Ed] He also notes comments by the US economic envoy, Declan Kelly. And there’s another argument he’s sceptical about Here’s another one I’m not entirely convinced by. If we don’t devolve justice then dissident republicans …

Sinn Féin Councillor’s ‘No’ protest “juvenile” – Adams

Pete Baker on October 1, 2009, 8:15 pm

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Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has chosen solidarity with his northern counterpart, the out-going SDLP leader Mark Durkan, over party loyalty in the “partitionist nonsense” row – when a southern SF councillor-led group disrupted a joint-press conference with the Irish Labour Party. From today’s Irish News [subs req] The West Belfast MP was openly critical of councillor Tomas Sharkey and other party members who have been accused of disrupting a pro-Lisbon Treaty press conference hosted by the SDLP and the …

Reg Empey: Brown’s legacy was in Health and Education, not at the Treasury

Mick Fealty on October 1, 2009, 7:30 pm

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One renegade snippet from Stormont live in which Sir Reg suggests that Brown’s contribution to the economy was less ‘robust’ than his work in the Health Service and the capital investment in the rebuilding of schools… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty