uuptoday.org

Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson has said he is outraged that the European Commission and Portuguese Presidency of the European Council have decided to extend and invite to Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to attend next week’s EU – Africa summit in Lisbon.

Speaking from Brussels Mr Nicholson said,

“It has been reported that the Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe has accepted an invitation from the Portuguese Government to attend next week’s EU – Africa summit. This comes despite diplomatic pressure from a number of sources aimed at preventing Mugabe from attending the conference.

“I am absolutely appalled at the UK Government for agreeing to send a Minister of State to the summit. There is no point in the Prime Minister talking tough about the situation and declaring he won’t attend if his Government then turn round and dignify the summit by sending a Minister of State in his place anyway.

“The British Government should exercise its right to block the Portuguese Government obtaining an exemption to the EU’s ban on Mugabe.

“It is an affront to the millions of Zimbabweans abused and dispossessed by Mugabe that he is being given a platform in Lisbon. So much for EU concerns about human rights and good governance in Africa.

“The EU’s decision to allow Mugabe to attend the summit is yet another example of the limitations there are in pursuing a common European foreign policy. It is not surprising that many people are extremely sceptical regarding EU’s efforts at assuming a meaningful role on the global stage.”

Ulster Unionist Party Finance spokesman and MLA for East Antrim, Roy Beggs Jnr has criticised the proposed allocation of resources in the draft budget during today’s budget debate at the Assembly. Referring to the non realisation of a financial package which had been previously flagged up as a deal breaker for the DUP prior to the re establishment of an Executive in May, Mr Beggs said:

“Sadly we will be faced with difficult choices as we approach the budget bill.

The choices would have been easier if the First Minister’s party had gained the £1b peace dividend that they promised prior to devolution. However after made the promise of new money prior to the election, they quickly forgot about it and went on to talk up the review of taxation in NI.

Having dashed hopes of a major economic package with slight of hand the media focus was switched to “The Varney Review” and the promise of lower corporation tax to kick start our economy.

I cannot help but notice the lack of mention of lower corporation tax from the Finance minister of recent months and can only assume that good news is not expected”

The East Antrim MLA went on to question the percentage increase in the departmental budget of Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness’s joint office.

“Why is the Finance minister proposing to give a much greater increase to the budget of the DUP-Sinn Fein Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister than that given to the Department of Health It is staggering to think that the DUP-Sinn Fein Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister is receiving greater priority than our National Health Service. That this is occurring at a time when health expenditure in the rest of the UK is rising at a significantly greater level will only increase the unacceptable disparity between health care in Northern Ireland and elsewhere in the UK.

It is puzzling that the Draft Programme for Government says that it is giving priority to personal health and well-being and goes on to recognise that a strong economy requires a healthy population.

If this is so, why has OFMDFM received a much greater budget increase than our National Health Service? If the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, and the Finance Minister, had a genuine commitment to our National Health Service it is obvious that they would not have made the choice to pass by the NHS and increase the budget of their favoured department OFMDFM. A budget that gives priority to OFMDFM over the National Health Service is not a budget that puts the needs of Northern Ireland first.”

Ulster Unionist Party Leader Sir Reg Empey, in a no-nonsense statement, today re-iterated the status of both the Draft Budget and Draft Programme for Government, accused the principal parties of exhibiting signs of control freakery and said that the Coalition system at Stormont was not like any other comparable coalition and had a two party cabal that needed to be addressed.

In a statement today, Sir Reg said,

“We are currently engaged in a process where we are discussing drafts - I repeat drafts - of the programme for government and budget. It is an opportunity for MLAs and the general public to openly debate and offer alternative viewpoints. The threats from certain Ministers to attempt to stifle debate by threatening the collapse of the government if these matters are not agreed to their liking reeks of throwing all the toys out of the pram and is a dagger to the heart of the democratic process. MLAs and parties must have the right to discuss and debate these draft proposals.

We are now beginning to see signs of control freakery being exhibited. The UUP regrets Mr Robinson’s thinly veiled threats in his closing remarks yesterday. Mr Robinson implies that there is a four Party coalition at Stormont. The reality is much different. A coalition, by definition, is where the parties of government come together to agree an agenda for implementation. At no time since the 8th May have the leaders of the parties represented in the Executive met to discuss, let alone agree an agenda. The confidentiality requirement means Ministers are inhibited from sharing fully with their parties emerging proposals on policy.

Ulster Unionist Party Ministers have approached their portfolios in a genuine attempt to deliver the best possible service to the people of Northern Ireland and we believe strongly that the only way a coalition can work is by consensus between the parties. This is not the way things are going. On the one hand DUP and Sinn Fein Ministers want to be fireproofed and blameless on sensitive and contentious issues such as health cuts and water charges by insisting on unanimity, while on the other they are getting into a two party cabal and deciding what they want and how to do it. This is a fundamental inconsistency that needs to be addressed. The UUP are currently exploring options of how to address it.”

Speaking today following a One Small Step event in Parliament Buildings, Deputy Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party in the Northern Ireland Assembly Danny Kennedy MLA has voiced his support for the One Small Step campaign. The event was also attended by Ulster Unionist councillors Alex Baird, James McKerrow and Eddie Rea and MLAs Robert Coulter, John McCallister and Alan McFarland.

Mr. Kennedy said, “the vision of the One Small Step campaign of a society ‘where there is equity, respect for diversity and a recognition of our interdependence’ is a blueprint of the values that will build a Northern Ireland for all of us. If Northern Ireland is to have a shared future a respectful relationship between our various political, cultural and religious traditions is needed. Now that the political framework created by the Agreement has been accepted by all parties, it is crucial that a culture of respect is promoted by those in positions of political responsibility. Our children and grandchildren deserve better than a society marked by intolerance or indifference.

“The One Small Step campaign is a powerful reminder, however, that building a shared future is not the sole responsibility of politicians and government – it is a responsibility we all share. Individuals, families, local communities, schools, faith groups, professional organizations can all make important contributions to promoting a culture of respect. We can all take steps towards building a Northern Ireland that is at peace with itself.

“In my comments at the One Small Step event, I referred to the need for ‘a renewed focus on the development of a shared society’. The political progress of the past decade offers us the opportunity to build a shared Northern Ireland. This is now the challenge lying before all of us”.

Ulster Unionist Environment Spokesman, Sam Gardiner MLA today aid he was deeply disappointed that there was no mention of an independent Environmental Protection Agency in the Draft Programme for Government.

“This is a very bad signal since the Programme for Government is a three year programme and the absence of this vital piece of legislation points to the Minister of the Environment avoiding the issue.”

“If there is no action on this by the end of January, I will either be tabling a Private Member’s Bill or pushing for an Environment Committee Bill to set up an independent Environmental protection Agency. If the Minister will not give a lead, the Assembly Environment Committee can. ”

“I have concerns about the DUP’s position on this issue and that is why I will be taking this course of action. The DUP, for example, failed to turn up to give evidence to the high-level enquiry which I could hardly believe at the time. I suspect they are double-minded on this issue.”

“With all the environmental mistakes in my Upper Bann constituency such as the wanton destruction of the Waringstown Rath over which the Environment and Heritage Service was totally ineffective, I want to see an independent Environmental Protection Agency that actually does its job.”

“The creation of an Environmental Protection Agency, independent of government, would strip away much of the Department of the Environment’s functions and that is another reason why the DOE establishment will want to stop it. It will break up their department.”

“This is the only part of the UK not to have an independent Environmental Protection Agency and it is more than strange that the DUP, as a unionist party, does not want us to be in step with the rest of the UK.”

“I will watch developments over this issue with interest.”

Ulster Unionist Environment Spokesman, Sam Gardiner MLA, has welcomed the intervention of Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the supermarket plastic bags issue.

“I first called for a tax on plastic bags three years ago and I am delighted that the Prime Minister has now described plastic shopping bags as ‘one of the most visible symbols of environmental waste and every year more than 13billion were distributed - more than 10 bags a week for every household’ and made their eradication part of his environmental policy.”

“Supermarkets have already agreed to cut the environmental impact of plastic bags by a quarter over the next year but I understand that Mr Brown has called for talks with the retail sector in a new effort to push these plans forward.”

“I would like to see our Executive taking some action on this but, like all their decisions, this seems to be very slow in coming.”

Ken Robinson MLA, Ulster Unionist Assembly Member for East Antrim, a member of the Assembly’s Education Committee and a former Headmaster, today described the latest figures from Save the Children and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation as “sobering.”

The report said that children in disadvantaged areas were turning away from school as early as age nine.

“The problem of negative attitudes towards school and education sets these children on a road to disadvantage for the rest of their lives. Disadvantage is a self-perpetuating experience. Negative attitudes to education lead to disadvantage and that in turn leads to more negative attitudes towards education. Somehow, we are going to have to break this inter-generational cycle of deprivation.”

“One aspect of this issue worries me. That is the view that this is just inner-city deprivation. It is well beyond the bounds of the inner cities. It also effects the big re-housing estates in the towns around Belfast – in Antrim, Newtownabbey, Lisburn and elsewhere. There is also the problem of rural poverty and low educational expectations and job prospects in isolated rural communities.”

“There is, I believe, a very significant loss of talent to our overall community from our failure to adequately address these related problems. One of the biggest challenges facing the Assembly is how we deal with this underachievement. So many educational headlines are grabbed by the Grammar School and selection issues, that this problem of low attainment and low achievement and its persistence in areas of high unemployment and low incomes is being missed.”

North Down Ulster Unionist Leslie Cree has dished out one of his favourite recipes to help a local Cancer Charity raise vital funds.

The MLA has been approached as one of the 108 MLA’s in the Northern Ireland Assembly to reveal his favourite recipe for inclusion in a recipe collection ‘An Assembly of Recipes’.

The novel idea has been developed by a local Cancer Research N I Charity Committee in Portaferry who hope to raise an extra £20,000 in order to reach their target figure of £100.000.

“Cancer Research Northern Ireland does excellent work across the Province and local groups are invaluable in helping them raise vital resources for local research into the disease”.

“I am more than happy to support the Portaferry Committee in sending them my favourite dish”, said the MLA.

“I love cooking but being a politician I get very little opportunity to prepare my favourite dishes at home commented Mr Cree.”

“At this stage I will not divulge anything more about my favourite recipe other than it is a fish dish said Mr Cree. Everyone will have to wait until the Charity Cookbook becomes available for sale,” he said.

“I wish the local group every success in their enterprise. I look forward with interest the completion of the cookbook so that I can gain an insight into Members’ choices of their favourite foods.”

Rev Dr Robert Coulter, the Ulster Unionist Party Assembly member for North Antrim and UUP Stormont Commissioner, has welcomed the news from an Executive Minister that more emphasis will be placed on developing Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths subjects, commonly known as STEMs, in schools and college.

Assemblyman Dr Coulter secured this commitment from the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment during ministerial question time at Stormont.

Dr Coulter added: “This is an area which is personally close to my heart given the fact I spent 18 years as a lecturer in the further education sector, and served on the further and higher education committee in the first Assembly in 1998.

“I had asked the Minister if he had any plans to liaise with his fellow Ministers in the Department for Employ­ment and Learning and the Department of Education in order to encourage entrepreneurial awareness in schools and further education colleges?

“The Minister clearly recognized my interest in this area and I got an assurance of the importance for parents and schools that Northern Ireland should place a greater emphasis on STEM subjects.

“I also obtained the assurance the Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment is fully engaged with the Department for Employment and Learning and the Department of Education and is liaising with them in their work to review the position on STEM subjects and to produce a strategy.

“The Minister’s assurances are especially welcome because the decline in the number of students who opt to take science-related subjects at an early age is a matter of concern.

“I equally welcomed the Minister’s commitment that his Department is fully engaged in the work that is being led by the Department of Education and the Department for Employment and Learning to review the position on science, technology, engineering and maths subjects, and to produce a strategy for their development through schools and further education colleges.

“What is of great importance for the pupils of Northern Ireland is that this work should identify progression routes to higher education and employment as well as emphasise links to wider economy’s skills and innovation needs,” said Assemblyman Dr Coulter.

Speaking today after a heated meeting of the Regional Development Committee at which Margaret Ritchie outlined the difficulties she faced in solving Social Housing problems with her limited budget, UUP Regional Development Spokesman and North Belfast MLA Fred Cobain said in a statement,

“I agreed with the Minister that the draft budget was woefully inadequate in a field which the Executive identified as a priority - housing.

This budget is the worst budget for housing I have seen in the last number of years. The number of people presenting themselves as homeless is going to increase because this budget does not address that. You have to conclude that is deliberate.

We need to tackle poverty at a number of roots. Social Housing provision must continue to grow. It is estimated that Northern Ireland needs between 2000-2500 new houses to meet the growing numbers of homeless people. The Department of Social Development is building just 600

The Housing Executive is not to wholly to blame given their tight financial constraints, the root cause, I believe, is decades of under-investment by successive governments.

One of life’s most basic rights is a decent place to live. Currently to a great many people this is a right that is denied to them. The draft Budget does not do enough to start tackling the problem. If the draft budget stays at is I can foresee the sight of a great many more homeless people on the streets of Northern Ireland and all the efficiency savings and other DUP and Sinn Fein buzzwords won’t be able to change that.

Priorities are in fact not priorities. An example: under the last Executive the OFMDFM budget was £32m – under Peter Robinson’s Draft Budget it has risen to £73.9m. That says all we need to know about priorities.“