Westminster – Page 5 – Slugger O'Toole

The Thatcher debate in the Commons

Brian Walker on April 10, 2013, 6:06 pm

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The speeches from our MPs Nigel Dodds and Alastair Macdonnell during the Thatcher tributes were bound to reflect the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Neither speech was terrible. Both avoided a rant. Alastair McDonnell had the tougher job. His doctor’s experience in the face of death probably helped. But both of them followed the familiar course of judging the performance of others – in this case Mrs Thatcher –against the standards of their own impeccable contrasting rectitude. The element of self …

The pro-Union wheels are starting to turn in Scotland. But they could still come off the bus

Brian Walker on March 27, 2013, 11:08 am

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Not before time, the wheels may be turning at last in the creaking pro-union machine to craft an effective reply to the SNP’s delivery vehicle for Scottish independence. The leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson has done a U-turn (£) to explore the idea of more and greater taxation powers for Holyrood. I wonder if The Herald’s editorial is right, that this is as much a problem as an opportunity for Ms Davidson? The problem for the Tory leader is …

What will become of the May 2015 UK Parliament if Scotland votes “Yes” on independence?

Brian Walker on March 23, 2013, 1:49 pm

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Every so often – but not very often – a major theme enters political debate which nobody noticed much at first but when attention is drawn to it, it becomes completely obvious. This topic is one such I’m posting here on how a referendum vote in favour of Scottish independence in September 2014 could greatly complicate the options for transitional UK government up to the general election in May 2015 and even more, the composition and form of the UK government thereafter. …

Salmond prepares to let Westminster take the hit over post-Leveson press regulation

Brian Walker on March 20, 2013, 11:59 am

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It may surprise you to learn that a separate Scottish response to the Leveson report on press regulation is looking unlikely. Stage One was a separate report by an “expert group” headed by the former Scottish judge Lord McCluskey who recommended “draconian “ powers and a regulator appointed by the Scottish government. If the London negotiations fail to produce the necessary statutory underpinning for a Leveson-compliant Regulatory Body with universal jurisdiction, then Scottish Ministers may consider introducing legislation separately to …

Embarrassment over Stormont Executive’s shameful failiure to support UK wide free speech and libel reform

Brian Walker on March 13, 2013, 4:23 pm

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I’m obliged to Jeff Dudgeon for drawing attention to the latest failure by the Executive. It has come to light that the Stormont powers that be failed to agree on bringing Northern Ireland into line with the English Defamation Bill and so bring much needed reform to the libel laws – if the Bill isn’t messed up by confusing the issues with the quite distinct ones of press regulation and the Leveson agenda. No reason was given apparently. The Bill’s main plank is …

SDLP chooses Patsy McGlone to contest Mid Ulster…

Mick Fealty on January 25, 2013, 3:23 pm

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This is worth noting since it’s a smart choice. And the SDLP have not been known for those in recent years. McGlone has a sound rural base of voters, and a decent local machine. You can almost certainly rule out a win against SF veteran Francie Molloy. In the last Assembly elections Sinn Fein’s team scooped 50% to the SDLP’s 15%. That’s roughly in line with the last Westminster elections. McGlone may see a decent improvement in that relative performance, …

The BBC has no business making a silly unionist dig at Martin McGuinness

Brian Walker on January 3, 2013, 12:04 pm

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Just a bit of New Year harrumping. I see the Bel Tel couldn’t resist joining the tease that Martin McGuinness took on an “English aristocratic title” when he had to go through the traditional form of accepting an office of profit under the Crown in order to quit as an abstensionist MP. The BBC website even put up a headline with the “aristocratic “ tag which with a bit of searching you can still find. It’s all very well for the …

Happy New Year!

Brian Spencer on December 31, 2012, 4:36 pm

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Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous new year! Your captions are welcome. Brian SpencerBrian is a writer, artist, political cartoonist and legal blogger. Actively tweeting from @brianjohnspencr. More information here: http://www.brianjohnspencer.com/ www.brianjohnspencer.com/

After Finucane, “a new disaster waiting to happen, ” warns Justice lobby group. But why not a new inquest?

Brian Walker on December 17, 2012, 1:51 pm

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The de Silva report presents a challenge to the legal establishment and others in Northern Ireland over how to proceed in the light of the UK government’s refusal to hold a public inquiry. Accountability concerns are not confined to history. They remain a live issue today since the devolution of policing and justice. One of the key issues is to how to subject the police and security service’s covert operations to critical examination to prevent such gross abuses in future. “Moving …

Osborne’s Autumn Hidden Statement

Brian Spencer on December 5, 2012, 12:32 am

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As this goes live the UK Chancellor will have just polished off his briefing to the Cameron cabinet on the Osborne austerity budget. But there are just some things that don’t need to be spelled out as Mr Sammy Wilson explained when speaking to the UTV here. Sammy said that the budget arithmetic under the Barnett consequential will ensure that what’s cut on the mainland will be cut over here in equal percentage measure. That means that some deep cuts …

Paisley jnr, Andrew Marr and a case of mistaken identity

Brian Walker on October 16, 2012, 9:50 am

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Guido flashed it, so to speak. Then Quentin Letts, a graduate of TCD and therefore qualified to comment on all things Irish north and south picked it up in his sketch. Mr Paisley rose. Tall fella. He has his father’s shoulders and skull-shape and Northern Irish accent. As I say, the larynx does not yet have the entrancing, papery creak but it is still a strong, clear voice, the Ulster uplift giving it a tone of disbelief. He asked Mrs …

Corporation tax: put us out of our misery

Brian Walker on October 15, 2012, 2:18 pm

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The Financial Times (£) carries a blunt warning from Bombardier, Northern Ireland’s largest employer, that it will lose its ability to invest in the province unless the end of regional aid at the behest of the EU is offset by a cut in corporation tax. This gets down to the bottom line after years of teasing on the subject. (Incidentally has any other news organisation bothered to report this? I can find nothing on line). The FT also reports: Long …

Stop pretending over welfare cuts

Brian Walker on October 10, 2012, 9:27 pm

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In practice because of the funding straightjacket, welfare is not devolved to Holyrood, Cardiff Bay or Stormont. So are the objections to the new universal credit in both Holyrood and Stormont any more than political grandstanding? Differential welfare payments make little or no sense without extensive tax raising powers. And there is no sign of Stormont wanting the responsibility of creating a small tax base apart from Westminster. Not even from Sinn Fein. Brian WalkerFormer BBC journalist and manager in …

Deal announced on Scottish referendum

Brian Walker on October 10, 2012, 11:10 am

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The deal between the UK and Scottish governments on the referendum is done and will be sealed on Monday. The Scotland Office and the SNP government seem to have jumped the gun on Downing St by announcing agreement on a single “yes, no question,” but with votes for 16 year olds added, if the Scottish Parliament approves. That detail might be thought to favour the “yes” camp if you believe kids favour change pretty automatically. There’ll be lots of detail to fight …

Bursting Boris’s bubble

Brian Walker on October 10, 2012, 8:50 am

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I’m not normally a great one for polemic – there’s more than enough of it already. But I can’t resist posting Max Hastings’ verdict on Boris, which my own experience echoes tamely. I have known the mayor for more than 20 years. He worked for me as EU correspondent of the Daily Telegraph and then as a columnist when I was the paper’s editor, and I have seen plenty of him since. He is a magnificent journalist and showman. He …

Radical Assembly reform. Going through the motions?

Brian Walker on October 9, 2012, 3:46 pm

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“The costs of division remain far too high”. Not a bad reason for wanting a shared society but not the best either. The new Secretary of State Theresa Villiers’ speech to the Conservative party conference was squeezed into a slot along with the other territorial cabinet ministers. Corporation tax had not actually been removed from the agenda and oh yes, there was Assembly reform. Good cause but is anybody actually interested? As politics in Northern Ireland move forward, it’s only …

Pro Union campaign on the back foot without a decision on devo more

Brian Walker on June 26, 2012, 10:15 am

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Appropriately enough, caution greeted Alistair Darling’s launch of Better Together, the pro Union multiparty campaign to counter the SNP and challenge the notion that extends well beyond the pro- independence ranks, that Alex Salmond is head and shoulders above all possible rivals. So far, not too bad. “Better Together” sounds more positive than “No Independence” – (even though the title unfortunately clashes with a Scottish NHS monitoring website.) Alan Cochrane, the Union’s greatest champion in the London press agreed the …

Enoch Powell at 100: trust in parliament, not Paisley, he told unionists

Brian Walker on June 24, 2012, 3:59 pm

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I hope Mick forgives me for not burying my brief precious memoir of Enoch Powell in a comment below. I had quite a bit to do with Powell in the late 70s and again in the early 80s. His belief in the supremacy of Parliament had a mystical quality. For as long as Northern Ireland elected members to Westminster the Union was secure. No one would dare remove them against their will. Constitutional observance secures the Union. By implication therefore he …

DUP sending signals to the Conservative parliamentary party?

Mick Fealty on June 14, 2012, 2:45 pm

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This morning the Conservatives launched in Northern Ireland [what, again? – Ed] Yes, they’re NI Conservatives now rather than Conservatives NI. Now, where was I? Oh yes. There were a few names there, many of them former (unelected) supporters of the UCU-NF. Yesterday however it was the DUP rather than the local Tories who caught the attention of Conservative Home when four of their number voted with Conservatives on a vote of no confidence (and against Labour and the Lib …

Ed Miliband spots the gaping hole in the case for the Union. Can he fill it?

Brian Walker on June 7, 2012, 10:22 am

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With the fluttering of Union Jacks alive in the memory, Ed Miliband has chosen the gap between the diamond jubilee and the Olympics to widen the argument over Scottish independence. It’s an appropriate moment. “We’ve concentrated on shaping a new politics for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But some people in England felt Labour’s attention had turned away. That something was holding us back from celebrating England, too. That we were too nervous to talk of English pride and …