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Ulster Unionist Chairman of Regional Development Committee and North Belfast MLA today said that no green light could be given to the Regional Development Minister’s report advocating water taxes while so many fundamentally important questions remained unanswered.

Mr Cobain also re-iterated his personal opposition to taxing people for water.

In an Assembly speech during a debate on the Independent’s Water Review Panel’s Strand One Report, Mr Cobain said,

“I represent a large, working class constituency in North Belfast, where thousands of families fall within the economically challenged bracket. At the last Assembly election, like many other MLAs in the House I gave an undertaking that I would not support the introduction of a water tax in this mandate, for precisely the reasons that I have just outlined: I refuse to make ten of thousands of people poorer than they already are.

An acceptance of this tax, even with a substantial affordability tariff, will do just that.

Until we establish the most basic of facts on who would be taxed and who won’t be, what provisions are being made to ensure that the most vulnerable in our society are offered protection from falling into further debt, how any bills will be handled, who will be responsible for collection and the method of assessment whether it be based on rateable values or not, it would be madness to proceed.

At the moment we don’t even know the answers to these most basic yet fundamentally important questions. Until these questions are answered fully and comprehensively we would be doing a disservice to the people of Northern Ireland by giving any approval or giving the impression that this Report is a basis for a fair and equitable charge on water.

So it is clear that there are still huge questions to be answered and much more work to be done before those that are advocating a water tax can be given the green light to do so.”

Ulster Unionist Member of the European Parliament Jim Nicholson MEP has said that there is no new money in the European Commission’s announcement today on future European funding for Northern Ireland.

Mr Nicholson made the claim as the European Commission announced that it has adopted three programmes involving Northern Ireland as part of EU Cohesion policy for 2007-2013.

Speaking from Brussels Mr Nicholson said,

“I want to make it absolutely clear that there is no new money in this announcement made today by the European Commission. The public should not be misled into believing that Northern Ireland has earned some massive cash bonanza from Europe.

“As I recall this is probably the fourth or fifth time in a 2 year period that an announcement has been made regarding this funding. It seems that yet again this money has been recycled, repackaged and made to appear like it is new money.

“Back in July I met with the First and Deputy First Minister where I told them they had seriously undersold Northern Ireland in Europe and that it was vital for them to visit Brussels as soon as possible. I am still waiting for that visit. In terms of investment Europe is just as important as any other region in the world.

“It is almost 6 months since devolution was restored and yet we are still waiting for the First and Deputy First Minister to work out how they are going to deal with Europe.

“Whilst I am disappointed that the European Commission and others have attempted to portray this as new money I do welcome the impact today’s announcement will have for the many groups on the ground who have been waiting for the European Commission to approve this money. Hopefully, Intermediary Funding Bodies should be able to start funding projects by the New Year.”

Ken Robinson MLA, Ulster Unionist Assembly Member for East Antrim, has called for a comprehensive review to be undertaken by the Department of Regional Development into the province-wide establishment of 20 mph zones in built up areas.

“I recently asked the Minister for Regional Development if his department had the power under current legislation to introduce 20 mph speed limits in towns, villages, cities and built-up areas, particularly near schools. He has now confirmed to me that his department already has the power to do this.”

“Now that he has confirmed to me that he has the power to do it, I am calling on the Minister to act. To begin with, he should set up a province-wide review of potential 20 mph zones in our most heavily populated areas. Speed kills and only a 20 mph limit enforced across the entire province in what might be called black spots in heavily built up areas will get the message across.”

“A survey by the Transport Research Laboratory of 20mph zones across the UK and in other European countries found child road accidents fell by 67%, cyclist accidents by 29% and traffic flow by 27%. It has also been shown that a driver travelling at 20mph is able to come to a sudden stop in about half the time of one driving at 30mph.”

“This is Road Safety week and it would be a good time for the Minister to act or at least declare his intention to act. It would help increase the profile of the decision and it would show that the Executive cared about this issue, given our appalling road safety record.”

Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson has said that Love Beef Week – an initiative by the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) to highlight Northern Ireland’s exceptional Farm Quality Assured (FQA) beef – reminds us how important it is to support local farmers by buying local produce first. Northern Ireland’s first Love Beef Week has been running from Monday and ends this Saturday (3rd November).

Mr Nicholson also called for more transparent and rigorous food labelling, which shows clearly where the origin of the produce is.

In a statement Mr Nicholson said,

“Over the past year I have been campaigning hard to get the European Commission to ban imports of Brazilian beef to the EU. Time and time again, it has been independently proven to be of a sub – standard nature. Cheap imports of food from South America and South East Asia, which are not produced to the highest of European standards, have done tremendous damage to the local beef and lamb industry.

“However, the Love Beef Week campaign, which has been running all week, provides all of us with a stark reminder of how important it is to support local farmers by purchasing local produce first.

“The long term interest of the agri – food industry is best served by Northern Ireland’s consumers demanding quality local produce. Buying local first strengthens the local economy and also helps the environment. When moving produce around the world we must consider how many food miles the produce has travelled and the environmental impact of moving produce such a large distance.

“To help consumers make an informed choice to buy local produce first, they need more rigorous and transparent food labelling. Inadequate and misleading labelling prevents consumers from being able to make that informed choice.

”In many cases food can be imported to Northern Ireland, processed here, and then labelled in a way that suggests it is genuinely British. This misleading practice must come to an end.”