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UUP East Belfast MLA Michael Copeland has described as ‘at best insensitive and at worst sinister’ plans that will see the formation of the 38th Irish brigade which will encompass the current 8th infantry, 39th infantry and 107th (Ulster) Brigades.

The term ‘Irish’ in this context is inaccurate and, given the history of the 107th (Ulster) and its inclusion in the old 36th Ulster division, insensitive.

In a statement Mr Copeland said,

“I have been approached by several senior officers and former servicemen who are alarmed at this attempt to finally airbrush from history the last surviving link with Ulster’s own 36th division.

The 107th (Ulster) was formed on the 2nd November 1914 and, combined with the 108th and 109th to form the 36th division. By 1918 the brigade had been reduced to no more than a few platoons.

The current brigade was formed on the 2nd November 1988 and adopted as it’s insignia the red hand of Ulster set on a green shamrock superimposed on a black square. The honourable memory of the 38th (Irish) brigade, which was formed at the behest of Winston Churchill, is already preserved in the above insignia. In 1914 Sir Edward Carson and others insisted upon the inclusion of the word Ulster in the divisional title of the 36th.

That battle for recognition of the regional identity of Ulster within the United Kingdom was just as valid then as it is now.

The efforts to strip the title Ulster from the army, as was done in policing, must continue to be resisted if we are to remain as recognisable group within the United Kingdom.”

Ulster Unionist Party Deputy Leader Danny Kennedy today expressed his unequivocal support for the NIMFG campaign to cap rates on Industrial premises at 25%.

In a statement Mr Kennedy said,

“The Scottish Executive has given a pledge to ensure that business rates are kept at a competitive level, and have provided £100M in 2006 alone to ensure this. We should do likewise

The Direct Rule administration has been woefully complacent in its attitude to the Manufacturing Sector – DETI Minister Angela Smith has talked of a “positive outlook” for NI manufacturing. However, the recent DETI commissioned Report on the future of the sector talked of Government “managing decline”. This is totally unacceptable.

The Secretary of State Peter Hain has talked of the need to grow NI’s Private Sector – everyone agrees with that. So why is this administration (under his control) imposing high levels of business rates which can only result in the destruction of private sector jobs?

Finally, this is an issue in which there is uniquely full cross party and cross community support – something which the Secretary of State has been actively seeking. Irrespective of the outstanding unresolved issues surrounding the return of a fully devolved administration in NI, Mr Hain has a duty to both hear and heed the unanimous views of all the political parties in NI and act immediately to address this situation. On behalf of the Ulster Unionist Party, I make that call today.”

To mark Community Relations Week, the Ulster Unionist Party today hosted a seminar in Cunningham which was addressed by Party Leader Sir Reg Empey MLA and the UUP Community Relations spokesperson, Dr. Esmond Birnie MLA.

Ethnic minority groups and organizations were invited, including representatives from NICEM and the Pakistani Cultural Association.

The event explored the importance of political life in Northern Ireland positively embracing the diversity of our society, and outlined UUP proposals to tackle racism. The UUP website also included a welcome message from Sir Reg in 8 languages including Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Polish and Portuguese.

Among the UUP proposals are:

• An anti-racism pledge for all future UUP election candidates will be brought to the Party Executive for its approval.
• We will also work with ethnic minority organisations to ensure that our constituency offices throughout Northern Ireland are equipped to provide services to those from ethnic minority backgrounds.
• A new section of our Party website www.uup,org is being launched today, specifically addressing those from ethnic minority backgrounds. The section will address issues of concern to ethnic minority communities, link to relevant sites, and provide information on voter registration.
• We will work with community leaders in loyalist areas to promote the generous, pluralist British values of the contemporary United Kingdom.
• The Ulster Unionist Party therefore endorses the recommendations of the Concordia report. The report provides a roadmap to ensure that migrant workers are, as it states, “not treated as second-class citizens, but as respected members of our community.”

Speaking at the event UUP Leader Sir Reg Empey said,
“A fair society guarantees equality for all of its citizens. The Ulster Covenant – our Party’s foundation document – referred to the “cherished position of equal citizenship within the United Kingdom”. Racism and racist attitudes are an assault on this fundamental Ulster Unionist value. As one of Northern Ireland’s leading political parties we have a responsibility to lead by example in demonstrating this.

Those members of our community from ethnic minorities are a reminder to us all that the challenges of settling in a new community are nothing new in the history of this part of the United Kingdom. Many Ulster-Scots and Irish people over the generations have left our shores to begin new lives in all corners of the globe – and have made invaluable contributions to their new communities. Their experiences are part of who we are as a community. And those experiences should shape our response to those with backgrounds from other shores – as respected, welcomed, valued members of our shared community.

We celebrate diversity – and we want to secure the future of our diverse society. That is why we in the Ulster Unionist Party are committed to securing fairness, freedom from fear and a cohesive community for all in Northern Ireland.

Speaking at today’s ‘Education Voices’ seminar in Parliament Buildings, Ulster Unionist Leader Sir Reg Empey has said that Direct Rulers have foisted upon Northern Ireland “false alternatives” instead of “responsibly encouraging a thoughtful and inclusive debate on post-primary education suited for the 21st century”.

The UUP Leader said that it was time to build post-primary education that will give every child – irrespective of background – an educational experience that equips them for the challenges Northern Ireland faces in the 21st century.

Highlighting the mismanagement of the government’s approach, Sir Reg referred to Rab Butler’s 1944 Education Act, which an Ulster Unionist government later introduced to Northern Ireland.

The East Belfast MLA said: “We in Northern Ireland are, of course, in the midst of a raging debate on education reform. It is, therefore, easy for us to lose sight of an important aspect of the Butler Act – it was the work of a coalition government, a government embracing Conservative, Labour and Liberal. A cross-party consensus supported a far-reaching, radical reform of the United Kingdom’s education system.

“Contrast that consensus with the Direct Rule administration’s partisan mismanagement of our education debate. Instead of responsibly encouraging a thoughtful and inclusive debate on post-primary education suited for the 21st century, the Direct Rulers have foisted upon Northern Ireland false alternatives. On this issue - so central both to future economic prosperity and our social cohesion - the Direct Rule Administration has provoked controversy instead of building consensus.”

The UUP Spokesperson Team for Education

“When we needed a wide-ranging debate on the future vision of life-long learning for our children, the Direct Rulers led us into the cul-de-sac of angry ideological disputes over academic selection. To state the obvious – education does not begin at age 11. The problem is that the debate led by the Direct Rule administration has proceeded as if it does.

“My Party’s recent policy paper on children in early years quoted the OECD report Starting Strong: “equitable access to early childhood education can strengthen the foundations of life-long learning for all children”… This is precisely why the voices of those in pre-school and primary education must be heard – and why we need a broad, inclusive education debate instead of narrow ideological crusades.”

Sir Reg said that there should not be a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to post-primary education and Northern Ireland’s grammar schools should be respected and maintained as a valued part of our society’s education system.

He added: “Alongside this – as we have already seen – our society and economy need a vibrant non-grammar sector. A competitive knowledge-based economy requires skills and qualifications beyond the traditional academic-higher education route.”

Sir Reg said that there was “overwhelming agreement” that the present form of academic selection is failing our children. In the year 2003-04, 35% of Year 7 children did not even sit the transfer test.

“In the words of the Ulster Unionist Party’s response to the Post-Primary Review, the present transfer arrangements are ‘unsustainable’,” he said.

Sir Reg concluded: “It is the belief of the Ulster Unionist Party that locally-elected representatives, accountable to the people of Northern Ireland, possessing local knowledge of society in this part of the United Kingdom, are best-placed to balance differing educational interests and build a consensual approach to education reform.”

Also speaking at the seminar were Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland David Lidington, Sir Kenneth Bloomfield, Susan Campbell representing the National Association of Head Teachers, and Ethne McCord from Concerned Parents. There were over 70 guests in attendance, drawn from a broad spectrum of public opinion.

Speaking after the event, UUP Education Spokesperson David McNarry said: “The seminar was a great success in terms of allowing varied voices to be heard. The uptake for the meeting was twice what was expected, and it was so pleasing to see such intense interest from those in attendance – which proves that education remains a top priority issue for the public.

“Clearly efforts to influence government thinking will go on, and I am confident that there will be more meetings of this kind.

“I am indebted to David Lidington’s commitment to Northern Ireland on the education debate and the fact that he flew into Belfast this morning solely to be with us and then caught the lunchtime plane back to London. This says a lot in itself for the respect he had for his audience.

“I would also like to thank speakers Susan Campbell, Ethne McCord and Sir Kenneth Bloomfield, who each in turn made their contributions in a persuasive and professional manner.“

Ulster Unionist DETI spokesperson Roy Beggs Jnr has criticised the NIO Minister for Enterprise Trade and Investment for showing signs of complacency regarding the future of manufacturing industry in Northern Ireland.

Mr Beggs comments follow recently published economic and employment statistics which show low levels of unemployment and a reduction in manufacturing output.

Mr Beggs said:

“Economy minister Angela Smith MP has rightly highlighted the 4.1% unemployment rate in Northern Ireland which is a percentage point lower than the UK average. While this good news deserved to be acknowledged, I am concerned that the rather bleaker manufacturing statistics have been somewhat glossed over.

“Northern Ireland manufacturing output, decreased by 4.8% over the last quarter and fell by 2.5% over the year, while the UK as a whole reported decreases of 1.2% over the quarter and 2.3% over the year.

“I detect a worryingly level of complacency in the DETI’s statements and I see no evidence that the Minister has a strategy to address the needs of local manufacturing industry. She could make a start by urgently reviewing the tax burden on businesses and halting further moves to phase out industrial de-rating.”

The East Antrim MLA added that the success of 5 local companies in winning enterprise awards showed that local manufacturing could succeed in the global market, but that government policy must not impeded their future success.

“I congratulate the 5 local companies who have been awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise. It is particularly pleasing for me to see that FG Wilsons - the generator manufacturer in my hometown of Larne- has been recognised in the international trade category. This goes to show that local manufacturers can succeed, but government needs to ensure that future prospects are not harmed by over taxation. The needs of business must be addressed if we are to have a more self reliant and sustainable economy.”

Ulster Unionist Environment Spokesman, Samuel Gardiner MLA, said that the Chernobyl experience should make people think twice about the nuclear power option.

“It came as a shock to me, as I am sure it did to may others, to learn as recently as last week that 374 farms in Cumbria, Scotland and North Wales were still registering unacceptable levels of radioactivity twenty years after the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. That is frightening to contemplate and it should make all of us think twice about any nuclear options for the future.”

“In order to protect the health of consumers after the Chernobyl accident, restrictions were placed on the movement and sale of sheep from areas of the UK where contamination levels in sheep meat were over 1,000 becquerels (a measure of radioactivity) per kilogram, the safety limit set in 1986. Initially some 9,000 farms in the UK were affected but 20 years later 374 farmes still have problems.”

“Based on recent results obtained, three reports monitoring the 374 sheep farms still affected propose that none of these farms still under restriction in Cumbria and Wales should have their restrictions lifted in the near future. In Scotland, the results led to one farm being released from restrictions in January 2006. This makes for frightening reading considering how far away Chernobyl in the Ukraine is from this country.”

Samuel Gardiner MLA, Ulster Unionist Assembly member for Upper Bann, said today that the recent building site death in Milton Keynes when scaffolding erected by a Northern Ireland firm collapsed highlighted once again the issue of building worker safety and the need for a new Corporate Manslaughter Law.

Mr Gardiner called in January for the introduction of a new offence of secondary liability for corporate manslaughter where it could be shown that a company’s failings were provably caused by the culpable negligence of one or more individuals within the firm. Last year the MLA also called for a new Corporate Manslaughter Law in Northern Ireland following the death of a local building worker from Lurgan.

“Last year I called for a new Corporate Manslaughter Bill and subsequent to the Government agreeing to this, I called for the provisions of the new bill to be extended to Northern Ireland which has the worst record of worker safety anywhere in the United Kingdom,” said Mr Gardiner.

“I believe that only individual responsibility for the death of a worker due to company negligence will make management take this seriously and give worker safety sufficient priority. If the organization is blamed, the organization – particularly if it is a big corporation as many building firms are – has a broad back and it will simply become a matter of financial penalties. That is not enough to change attitudes within the construction industry. For people to take the death of workers on site seriously they will have to feel that they will actually and individually face a manslaughter charge, if they have been provably negligent,” said the MLA.

“As it stands, the draft Bill targets gross failings by the “senior management” of an organisation, rather than focusing on the wrong-doing of one or more individuals in the company. I feel these problems could be best addressed by introducing a new offence of secondary liability for corporate manslaughter. Juries should be asked to establish whether management failure had caused or contributed to the death. On the basis of that finding the Director of Public Prosecutions should then determine whether or not individuals within a company should be prosecuted for manslaughter.”

“Whatever happens, the provisions of this bill must be extended to Northern Ireland which has a poor record in regard to worker safety. It remains stubbornly as the worst part of the United Kingdom in this regard, a record we should be very unhappy about. Worker safety is a key consideration in any civilized society.”

“I intend to introduce a Private Members’ Bill in the Assembly - as soon as that is possible - to bring a Corporate Manslaughter Law into Northern Ireland,” said Mr Gardiner.

Commenting on Peter Robinson’s speech in Killarney today UUP Leader Sir Reg Empey said,

“I note the suggestion from Peter Robinson that there be a widespread consultation process within unionism in coming months on the subject of power sharing with Sinn Fein.

For some time I have been calling for a debate within unionism on the dilemma that faces us; on the one hand the real threat of ‘joint management’ of Northern Ireland by London and Dublin together with disastrous policy decision being taken against our wishes, and on the other that access to power at Stormont requires power-sharing with the republican movement in which unionists have no confidence because of past and present behaviour.

What the DUP seems to be proposing could be cover for going into government with Sinn Fein just as that party organised a ‘local option’ plan in Castlereagh Borough Council in the 1980s in order to justify changing its policy on Sunday opening when Dundonald Ice Bowl was built. It’s always easier if somebody else takes the decision and you can say that ‘it is the will of the people.’ If the DUP has no intention of sharing power with Sinn Fein, why don’t they say so? It confirms my view that it is only a matter of when, not if, a DUP/Sinn Fein administration is formed at Stormont, and DUP supporters better get that message.

The irony of recent events will not have gone unnoticed by local people. On nearly every key issue, the DUP has followed in the Ulster Unionist Party’s footsteps. What we were condemned for years ago by the DUP is now that party’s policy. We are along way from the days of ‘never, never, never,’ and I’m glad about that.

It is not acceptable, however, for a party that promised a ‘fair deal’ that is yet to be delivered to place its own interests before the welfare of our Province and squander precious time thus allowing irrevocable decisions to be taken that are against the long term interests of unionism.”

Samuel Gardiner MLA, Ulster Unionist Assembly Member for Upper Bann, said today that the PSNI were doing a first rate job in tacking drugs crime. The MLA went on to encourage all members of the public, from all traditions and all backgrounds, to give their strong support and co-operation to the PSNI in tacking what he described as a “scourge which threatens to destroy the lives of so many of our young people.”

His comments come after the PSNI arrested two men in Lurgan on Thursday evening and seized a significant quantity of drugs.

“We all owe a tremendous debt of gratitude for the vigilant and tireless work of the PSNI in tackling head-on the scourge of drugs in our midst. Everyone in society should see it as their duty to tell the police anything they know about drugs and drug pushing. This scourge must be swept from our streets and I must praise the PSNI for their determination and hard work in tackling drugs crime.”