UUP Finance Spokesperson comments on Hain’s Fabian Society Speech
Responding to the Secretary of State Peter Hain’s speech to the Fabian Society at Stormont this morning, UUP Finance Spokesperson Esmond Birnie MLA said:
“Thanks to Gordon Brown we have had several comprehensive three-year spending reviews before. I seriously doubt whether this is really a ‘radical change’ in the way public expenditure is evaluated and allocated.
“The Secretary of State is right to prioritise private sector expansion, but how on earth does he expect this to happen when there are so many tax disadvantages relative to the Republic of Ireland? Comparisons between corporation tax and fuel duty serve to highlight where major imbalances lie.
“We can also agree with Mr Hain on the aim of innovation in the delivery of public services, but we have doubts about the practice implied now by the RPA model. This does not, as Mr Hain suggests, represent ‘power exercised as close to the people as possible’.”