Hain should reacquaint himself with his Job Description - Birnie
Ulster Unionist Finance Spokesperson Esmond Birnie has hit out at the Secretary of State’s plans for the Northern Ireland economy and called on Mr Hain to re-acquaint himself with his job description following his speech in Glenties last night.
In a statement, the South Belfast MLA said: “The government is fundamentally wrong to believe that the way to rebalance the economy here is to impose massive tax burdens on the householder, while also encouraging an all-island economy.
“For a start government continues to ignore the fact that the average wage here is around 20% less than the rest of the UK. We also pay substantially more for electricity and around two thirds more for our gas than the mainland.
“The Secretary of State also spoke of ‘a shared future for the whole of Ireland and not just for north of the border’, and highlighted a whole raft of areas for increased joint cooperation.
“Mr Hain should stop peddling myths, re-acquaint himself with his job description, and focus on what is best for the people of Northern Ireland and the businesses of Northern Ireland – this is where his first priority ought to lie.”
He added: “The Secretary of State also referred to the weak private sector compared to our disproportionately large public sector.
“We basically agree with his diagnosis on what the core economic problem is, but we disagree fundamentally with his remedy.
“The Secretary of State sees increased north south cooperation as the big answer. His response probably has more to do with his personal brand of coercive politics, rather than an appreciation of sound economics.
“Instead government must grasp the nettle of tax incentives – and resist abdicating responsibility to the creeping power of sporadic, uncontrolled and unmanageable cross border cooperation.
“The wealth creating sector must be given tools to grow the Northern Ireland economy, and grow the potential of revenue for the Treasury.
“Put simply - tax revenue would be boosted here in the long term if the government showed much more imagination with respect to corporation tax, de-rating of industry, VAT on tourism and the fuel excise duty.”
He added: “North South Bodies formalised the cross-border relationship Peter Hain is fond of talking up. In the absence of the Assembly, these should have remained within ‘care and maintenance’, not expanded and developed.
“Peter Hain is right to be critical of ‘stifling bureaucracy’. In an era of public sector cutbacks and ‘year zero’ economic planning, North-South bodies should not be shielded from stringency measures.”