Westminster – Page 6 – Slugger O'Toole

Scottish referendum: the unionist case is still all over the place

Brian Walker on February 22, 2012, 9:46 am

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The unionist split shows no sign of closing. The Aberdonian Tory cabinet minister and Surrey MP Michael Gove echoes my “England is sulking “ theory and delivers some pretty sharp words to his own side. …While there is a threat posed by Scottish separatism, he added, “there is also a threat, under-appreciated, from English separatism as well.” Mr Gove said: “When some of my colleagues say we need to re-visit the West Lothian Question or we need to have …

Scottish referendum: ‘Devo more’ could be a unionist runner

Brian Walker on February 20, 2012, 8:13 pm

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On the subject of greater powers for Holyrood, there’s something of a right wing split between the Telegraph newspapers and the darling of the Tory grass roots, blogger Tim Montgomerie of ConservativeHome. The Sunday Telegraph leader dealt with the subject with a knowledge of the subject that would disgrace an unpaid intern: To concede greater powers to the Scottish Assembly is always to raise the question: why should they not be given more? This kind of condescension is an English …

It’s the English question now, stupid

Brian Walker on February 17, 2012, 12:58 pm

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The Scottish media were a PhD dissertation about chippiness all unto themselves,” reflected Mr Blair in his memoirs, the Times editorial (£) recalled. By those standards, it seems Dave’s nervous apologia for the Union in Edinburgh fitted the bill after all, presentation wise. Substance was more problematical. In the Times (£) the august Scots unionist Magnus Linklater, conscious of every kink in the Scottish soul saw the problem of staying schtum for two whole years about devo max or (devo …

So what’s the formula for a referendum, Owen?

Brian Walker on February 6, 2012, 4:31 pm

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Jamie Smyth the new (to me ) correspondent of the Financial Times has managed to win some space for an interview with Owen Paterson (£ sadly) who takes whatever wind there might have been out of Martin McGuinness’s kite for a united Ireland referendum. Part of the draught perhaps from the Scottish referendum campaign Graham Walker has drawn attention to, as posted by Mick. “For people in the north there is a real worry on the economic front. I think there …

Crown Prosecution Service consider Chris Huhne case

Turgon on January 22, 2012, 5:49 pm

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There has been a slow burning story going on for months now about Chris Huhne the Liberal Democrat Energy Sectary. Huhne who was one of the challengers for the Liberal Democrat leadership both against Ming Campbell and Nick Clegg (by whom he was only narrowly defeated). Huhne’s problem has been the claims that whilst he was MEP for South East England in 2003 he was caught by a speed camera whilst driving into central London from Stanstead airport. Huhne already …

Unionist forces begin to muster

Brian Walker on January 12, 2012, 10:12 am

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So it’s game on for the early rounds of the referendum campaign. The Westminster government says Alex Salmond can have a binding referendum provided he sticks to a Yes, No question on independence. No fudging over devo max. The UK parties are uniting to save the Union, although the others would like Cameron and the Tories to take a back seat according to the Guardian, for reasons which Alex Salmond himself makes clear in the Independent. They have all but conceded …

Any questions for the Culture Media and Sports Committee?

Mick Fealty on July 19, 2011, 9:26 am

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Two Westminster committees will face down key players in the #hackgate scandal… Two policemen at the heart of the scandal face the Home Affairs Committee whilst the Messers Murdoch and Ms Brooks face the culture committee… Can we have your sharpest, most surgical questions please? 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 …

New Boundaries for 16 seats..

Dewi on June 9, 2011, 7:12 am

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>Here’s Lewis Baston’s Democratic Audit Model with his view of the proposed 16 seats for Northern Ireland at Westminster. It’s quite detailed. No change in North Antrim but everywhere else does… Belfast down to 3 (looks like 1 strong Nationalist and 2 Unionist to my eye but I’m certain that others will know better..) Upper Bann is shared around a bit with 40% going to the new seat of South Neagh, the rest coming from FST, Mid-Ulster and Newry & …

Why Northern Ireland should say Yes to the Alternative Vote

Stephen Glenn on April 21, 2011, 2:12 pm

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Is it right that only three of Northern Ireland’s 18 MPs had the backing of over 50% of those who voted last May? Or right that another three had only one in three people vote for them? That is the situation that Northern Ireland found itself in last May after the only election that we place an X on our ballots rather than ranking our candidates by order of preference. On Monday the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) released …

After the last laugh, the coda

Brian Walker on January 27, 2011, 1:36 am

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.. and worth another thread in my view. Here we have a sad little case of a British solution to an Irish problem. Or is it the other way round? The British are slippery and the Irish are churlish. One of those pinpoints of attitude so beloved by disputants on both sides that illustrate the essential gap between them that survives the peace process. The Westminster authorities were undoubtedly disingenuous (the Tory Richard Bacon is right, quoted by Nevin below) by …

Adams obeys the rules, takes an office of profit under the Crown

Brian Walker on January 26, 2011, 12:32 pm

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David Cameron has just told Nigel Dodds MP and the Commons: You may not have caught up with this yet but the member for West Belfast has just accepted an office of profit under the Crown. I’m not sure he will be delighted to become a baron of the manor of Northstead….. We are aiming for all members to take their seats. If any of them have a problem, they should come and talk about it. Dodds had asked a …

Mr No Vote wins 17/18 …

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 17, 2010, 7:17 pm

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Map of NI showing how turnout affected 2010 Westminster election results - adapted from Ark Election site ark.co.uk/election

A bunch of hacks (programmers) and hackers (journalists – real and citizen!) attended ScraperWiki‘s workshop in the University of Ulster Belfast campus on Saturday. The idea was to unearth benefit and stories from the public data, if necessary using robotic data scraping techniques to lift facts and figures out of ill-formatted webpages into a more useful database format to explore the connections. Three teams formed, looking at NI Court decisions, comparing pay levels across public, private and voluntary vacancies advertised …

Bloody Sunday debate exposes doubt and disagreement over dealing with Northern Ireland’s past

Brian Walker on October 14, 2010, 10:40 am

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No points to the Commons and Lords for the scheduling clash between the debate on lessons from the Bloody Sunday inquiry in the Upper House and Lord Saville’s personal appearance before the NI Select Committee yesterday. MPs failed to lay a glove on the now retired Supreme Court member over the epic 10 year time scale and £190 million cost of an inquiry whose impact casts a long shadow over the whole public inquiry system.. MPs were naturally caught between …

Commons cuts will force radical reform and a smaller Assembly

Brian Walker on July 9, 2010, 8:29 am

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It’s now clear that the UK coalition’s decision to cut the number of MPs by 50 to 600 will have radical implications for the Assembly. Northern Ireland is set to have its numbers cut to 15 MPs, three fewer than at present. This is the up to date data Electorate 600 MPs England 38,241,036 504.62 Northern Ireland 1,135,835 14.98 Scotland 3,864,416 50.96 Wales 2,261,816 29.82 　Quota 75,839 The Assembly is of course elected on the basis on the 18 Westminster constituencies. …

“I think that at the moment we let them off the hook…”

Pete Baker on June 23, 2010, 5:25 pm

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The BBC notes the Prime Minister’s comments during Question Time in the Commons on the issue of Sinn Féin MPs’ expenses – which we have previously been told is a matter for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA). The comments themselves leave few hostages to fortune. From Hansard [scroll down] Q11. [3692] Dr William McCrea (South Antrim) (DUP): Yesterday, we were told that resolute action was necessary to deal decisively with our country’s debt. Does the Prime Minister believe that …

Pressure for legal action widens as politicians flounder over Troubles legacy

Brian Walker on June 21, 2010, 11:34 am

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Two very different newspaper stories reveal how reaching consensus over dealing with the past is looking increasingly difficult, with the balance appearing to tilt in favour of legal action. One based on a letter from unnamed paratroops accuses Lord Saville of a “cynical exercise” in blaming Col Derek Wilford, OC 1 Para, to avoid condemning junior soldiers but produces no fresh evidence or admissions. The soldiers involved could of course clear the matter up even yet. The other story shows …

I want to plug the humble Comber potato and the Portavogie prawn

Brian Walker on June 8, 2010, 10:37 pm

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By tradition in a maiden speech, an MP is supposed to praise his constituency and his predecessor. The new DUP for Strangford Jim Shannon proved he was a traditionalist to the core, giving a name check to almost every town and village in Strangford. He managed a gracious word about Iris Robinson without embarrassment in a list of past members. But in one respect Jim as a trailblazer. As promised, this was the first time that part of a Commons speech …

Why the big fuss over fixed term parliaments?

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on May 14, 2010, 5:00 pm

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About a month before the election Radio 4 broadcast a fascinating programme narrated by the BBC’s Scottish political editor Brian Taylor. Over half an hour he explained how the Scottish Parliament differs from its Westminster counterpart. It’s fixed term. Every piece of legislation is a new act of coalition. While some parties will support each other to get one piece of legislation passed, they’ll not agree to cooperate over the next. The SNP dominate, but while they win some debates, …

SDLP getting down to business

Blank on May 12, 2010, 5:54 pm

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After several requests we bring you coverage of what will be the SDLP’s first bit of parliamentary business: Blank

Anyone for a game of Fantasy Cabinet?

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on May 11, 2010, 8:30 pm

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You’ve got an hour or two – maybe even until Wednesday morning – to suggest in the comments below who you think will be appointed to the Cabinet. Remember you’ve MPs from two parties to choose from? Who will be Chancellor? Foreign Secretary? Northern Ireland Secretary? … Confirmed … Chancellor – George Osborne Foreign Secretary – William Hague Defence Secretary – Liam Fox Deputy PM – Nick Clegg (Lib Dem) Health Secretary – Andrew Lansley … Northern Ireland Secretary – …