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Roy Beggs MLA, Ulster Unionist Party spokesperson on Children’s Issues, who sat on the Bill of Rights Forum’s Children’s Working Group, has voiced his objection to the suggestion to raise the age of when a young person becomes responsible for their crimes to 16 or 18.

Roy Beggs, Ulster Unionist MLA for East Antrim, claimed that “the BORF children’s working group has gone way beyond the remit set by the Belfast Agreement which was to give consideration to the ‘particular circumstances’ of Northern Ireland. The UUP both in the Working Group and in the Bill of Rights Forum has clearly and robustly argued against any proposed Bill of Rights seeking to change the age of criminal responsibility.”

He continued to claim that the Bill of Rights was not the appropriate place to address the issue of youth justice policy. He suggested that instead of the forum dealing with this important issue that it should be addressed through legislation. Roy Beggs MLA stated that “it would be more beneficial and practical to reform the youth justice procedures through legislation at Westminster rather than by a Bill of Rights. If the age of responsibility was changed by legislation it could be changed in a graduated manner with appropriate checks and balances to ensure that the public was protected.

In the course of my casework I have dealt with vulnerable constituents who have suffered as a result of a small number of young people who do not respect their neighbours. I have also taken part in anti social behaviour patrols alongside the PSNI and am therefore opposed to any wide reaching proposal which may inhibit the curtailment of anti social behaviour. There is also a clear need for safeguards against particular crimes such as murder, manslaughter and rape. I am therefore opposed to the current proposals which lack in detail and offer no such protection.”

The East Antrim Assemblyman stated that he was “completely against raising the age limit of criminal responsibility to 18. I believe that if a 17 yr old has committed a crime then they should be held accountable. There is a need to respect the rights of young citizens. Equally they have a responsibility to respect the rights of their fellow citizens.”

North Down MLA Leslie Cree Ulster Unionist Enterprise Trade and Investment spokesperson has raised concerns that the Department for Regional Development and DETI are missing an ideal opportunity to work together to develop a logical, effective and inclusive infrastructure that would maximise Northern Ireland’s tourist and commercial assets.

In a statement Mr Cree said,

“I think it is something of an embarrassment that we have a situation in Northern Ireland whereby there is no direct rail link to either of our two major airports. Sydenham Station which previously linked the City Airport to Belfast and North Down is now floating in no man’s land. With some strategic thinking and relatively limited investment we could create a link that provides both for the airport and the new Ikea store. The Ikea store is generating great interest both North and South and a proper rail link could open up this asset to scores more people who would then be able to go on to explore North Down, Belfast and beyond. Similarly with relatively little investment the International Airport could be linked to the existing rail network. These are the types of issues the Regional Development Minister and the Enterprise Trade and Investment Minister need to be discussing sooner rather than later so that the necessary plans can be put in place as soon as possible.

Our Ministers need to start thinking more strategically to gain the most out of our commercial and tourist market and also the opportunities that inward investment from India and the United States will bring to the Northern Ireland marketplace.

When people come to Northern Ireland from the UK and the Republic of Ireland to shop, go to a concert or visit areas of natural beauty we need to ensure that they do not leave straight away but avail of more of our attractions. Adequate infrastructure linking these attractions is a must.

The environment is also a key issue in this debate. Now with ever increasing pressure being forced on Governments to make real differences to their carbon footprints there is a genuine opportunity, if courageous and strategic decisions are made, for Northern Ireland to take the lead in implementing partnerships in Government that will help to achieve the desired results. This can be achieved with minimum expenditure if our existing infrastructure is used more effectively. It is time for some Ministers to step up to the mark and start making these tough decisions as opposed to continuing with Direct Rule lethargy.”

Basil McCrea Ulster Unionist Education spokesperson and Ken Robinson MLA for East Antrim and member of the Education Committee have declared their exasperation at the Sinn Fein Education Minister’s refusal to bring any new information before the Assembly. They also claim the Education Minister has shown contempt for the democratic process by criticising MLAs for asking questions in the Assembly and Education Committee

In a statement Mr McCrea said,

Today Minister Ruane attacked the Assembly’s Education Committee, MLAs, and the media for having the audacity to ask questions about the future of our schools. The debate in the Assembly was a frightening revelation of the Minister’s incompetence and her unwillingness to be held accountable. Accountability is at the very heart of parliamentary democracy. The purpose of the Northern Ireland Assembly is not to be a tame, safe platform for an Education Minister to mouth meaningless platitudes about ‘vision’ and ‘change’ but a chamber in which she is held to account, answering meaningful questions about her actions – or lack of them.

“It is now clear the Minister is determined on narrow, partisan ideological grounds to force a show-down with a majority of the Assembly and with the Assembly’s Education Committee. This is nothing less than a staggering abdication of her responsibility to Northern Ireland’s parents and schools”.

Mr. Robinson said, “Like many other Assembly Members I am deeply saddened that the Education Minister has – once again – refused to work with the Assembly and the Education Committee for the future of education in Northern Ireland. In her deliberately confrontational speech today, she practically boasted of her intent to ram her ill-thought out ‘vision’ through the Assembly, in the face of overwhelming opposition from the elected representatives of the people of Northern Ireland. For the sake of our children’s futures she cannot be allowed to succeed in her desire to destroy Northern Ireland’s hard-earned reputation for educational excellence”.

Danny Kennedy Ulster Unionist Deputy Leader and MLA for Newry and Armagh has welcomed the Speaker’s intention to refer Sinn Fein’s Mairéad Farrell tribute to the Assembly Commission.

In a statement Mr Kennedy said,

“The Ulster Unionist Party continues to make strong representations to the Speaker, and Stormont authorities, resolutely opposing the application by Jennifer McCann and Sinn Fein to eulogise a convicted terrorist in Parliament Buildings.

We welcome the statement the Speaker has made and that the matter will now be considered urgently by the Assembly Commission. The Ulster Unionist member of the Assembly Commission Dr. Robert Coulter will be opposing this application in the strongest possible manner. We welcome and encourage others to share our position on this matter given that we were the first Party to raise the issue.

Furthermore, the proposed event would be held in the month that marks the 20th anniversary of the brutal murder of Corporals Howes and Wood. Those murders were amongst the most savage acts undertaken by the Republican movement – shocking civilized opinion across the globe. It is staggering to think that Ms. McCann and her Sinn Fein colleagues now seek to glorify a bitter, painful time in our recent past.”

Unlike others the Ulster Unionist Party does not equate the actions of Mairéad Farrell with the SAS and other special forces. The SAS played an essential part in defending Northern Ireland from 30 years of terrorist onslaught, an onslaught that was perpetrated by people such as Mairéad Farrell and her cohorts”.

UUP MEP Jim Nicholson today commented on the government poll that claimed that 60% of people supported the transfer of policing and Justice and 53% backed the May deadline.

Mr Nicholson said the only poll that mattered was the recent Dromore by-election poll which gave a real snapshot of Unionist thinking.

In a statement Mr Nicholson said,

“The government are clearly engaged in a concerted effort to stick to the St. Andrews Sinn Fein/DUP deal that Policing and Justice powers should be devolved by May of this year.

This latest poll is evidence of that effort to bounce us into accepting it. Polls have been cynically used by the government before to try and influence public opinion and I do not give too much credence to them.

It should be remembered that there was a recent real poll, a proper test of public opinion. This was the Dromore by-election which offered an accurate and up-to-date snapshot of Unionist thinking.

It is clear that a majority of Unionists share the UUP view that it is just too soon to devolve policing and justice powers. The Institutions need to be bed down further and public confidence needs to be built up. Any rational person can see that the increasing TUV vote, the declining DUP vote and the retention of our seat by the UUP is indicative of unease and disquiet at the direction and methods used by the DUP.

Therefore their support in this government poll should not be taken as an indicator or an underlying trend within Unionism. Quite the reverse. It merely underlines how disengaged the party has now become from mainstream Unionist thinking.”

UUP MEP Jim Nicholson today called on the First and Deputy First Minister to heed the Assembly and demand the Prime Minister for a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon.

The Treaty was voted on today and passed in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

In a statement, Mr Nicholson, who voted against the Treaty, said in a statement,

“The people of Northern Ireland, like their neighbours across the border, should be given their say on this treaty. The Prime Minister is not keeping the promise that his predecessor gave on a referendum for the UK. This is because he knows that the Lisbon Treaty is the old rejected European Constitution repackaged and re-branded but it’s the same product with the same aims.

The Prime Minister is treating the public with disrespect. I am sure that a majority of people, like me, can see the clear benefits of a Europe of Independent States, working together to meet the challenges of globalisation, global poverty and global warning to name but three, but that does not mean we want to cede more of our national powers to Brussels. Perhaps Gordon Brown doesn’t mind being behoven to a European President, but it is not something that I, or I believe the people of Northern Ireland want.

Last October the Northern Ireland Assembly called on the government to hold a referendum on the new European Treaty. I am calling on the First and Deputy First Minister to heed that call, listen to the Assembly, listen to Northern Ireland’s MEPs and listen to the public. Paisley and McGuinness must demand a referendum for Northern Ireland from Gordon Brown on this Treaty.”

Copies also sent to David Cameron and Nick Clegg

Dear Prime Minister,

Remuneration and allowances for MPs, MSPs, AMs and MLAs

The above topic has exercised the minds of many in Parliament in recent weeks, and it has had a spill-over in the devolved regions as well.

I find it difficult to believe that we continue year in year out with a system that subjects public representatives to ridicule and derision from the press and public alike, due to the anomaly that we are responsible for setting our own rates of pay, at the same time as we are setting the rates of pay for large numbers of public sector workers.

As Minister for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland, my Department has been trying to resolve a long running pay dispute with college lecturers and defending public sector pay policy of confining costs of living increases to 2% in the current year.

Last week there was a rumour that the Senior Salaries Review Body was intending to recommend that Stormont MLAs receive a 16% increase in pay; and as you can imagine there was uproar, even though the Body will not be reporting until July.

Taken together with the matter of MP’s allowances, it all goes to convince me that there must be a better way of restoring public confidence in the political process and ridding ourselves of the responsibility for setting our own pay and allowances.

There are a range of other matters which I believe are bringing politics into disrepute. These include:

The employment of family members in unjustifiable circumstances.

Multiple mandates and responsibility allowances (these are rife in Northern Ireland but may not be such a problem in the rest of the UK).

Lack of clarity and consistency in the management of public representative’s constituency office costs allowance.

Confusion over the rules for the payment of rent for constituency office purposes.

I have no doubt that other Party Leaders share similar concerns and I am copying this letter to them with a view to seeing if a consensus can be reached on urgently needed and far reaching reforms.

I have no doubt that if these matters could be resolved we would have an opportunity to restore public confidence in the political process and ensure that future generations of politicians are not subject to inevitable criticism for operating a system that has long since past its sell-by-date and would not be tolerated in other walks of public life.

I understand that Parliament is asking a number of senior Members to look into some of these issues, but I believe that with widespread devolution in the UK the time has come for a national solution to cover Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

If we are seen to be tackling this on a national scale, then the public will see that the issues are being taken seriously throughout the United Kingdom, so that we can all get on with our work without these periodic episodes which undermine our collective credibility.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that public representatives should no longer be setting their own payment and allowances; that representatives should not have multiple mandates; and that the processes for handling allowances should be open and transparent.

I would be interested to know your views on these issues, and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Yours Sincerely,

Sir Reg Empey OBE MLA

Leader

The Ulster Unionist Party.

Annex to letter

In Northern Ireland most MPs are also Members of the Assembly, including Sinn Fein Members who do not attend Parliament. The only exceptions are Lady Sylvia Hermon MP (UUP) and Eddie McGrady MP (SDLP).

In addition to this, 7 out of 9 DUP MPs are also Councillors as well as MLAs; three are Ministers; and five are also Chairs of Assembly Committees (four of these are salaried positions).

It is obvious that only a clear legislative decision will end this double/treble jobbing.

A majority of MLAs from all Parties are District Councillors.

Conflicts of interest are inevitable. While this practice may have been acceptable when there was a doubt over the viability of the Assembly, it is now safer to assume that it is permanent. A clear prohibition on these practices would send out the signal that things are settled here.

The Chairman of the Ulster Unionist Councillors Association Trevor Wilson today welcomed Dromore by-election victor Carol Black to the fold.

Mr Wilson said her victory had given the Party a great boost and that it showed that despite what the detractors in the DUP and the media had predicted, the UUP was still very much a force to be reckoned with.

In a statement Mr Wilson said,

“I am delighted to welcome Carol to the fold as an Ulster Unionist Councillor. Her victory has been a great boost to the Party and I have been getting calls from up and down the country from fellow Councillors expressing their congratulations and best wishes.

Our detractors in the DUP had arrogantly predicted a wash out victory for themselves, aided and abetted in no small measure by a largely subservient media. How wrong they were! This victory for the UUP underlines what we believe to be true. That we remain a force to be reckoned with in Northern Ireland and that over the next months and years the people of Northern Ireland will witness a resurgent Ulster Unionist Party.”

I know only too well the dangers of over-exaggerating a situation. That said, the Ulster Unionist Party has every reason to allow itself a moment of triumph in the wake of our victory in the Dromore by-election.

Our victory was all the more enjoyable because so many of our political opponents—along with most of the media—assumed that we couldn’t win.

We proved a lot of people wrong on Wednesday. More important, though, we have discovered a new sense of confidence in ourselves. Right the way through the election campaign we had large and enthusiastic groups of people on our canvassing teams. These were ordinary party members who wanted to prove that the Ulster Unionist Party is proud of its legacy and proud of what we have done for Northern Ireland.

The result vindicates their enthusiasm and determination. And the sheer numbers of people who have contacted our Headquarters and elected representatives since the result became known, demonstrates that a very large audience appreciates our success.

But we will not be sitting upon our laurels and taking a complacent view of events. The Party has reached the end of a Review process which I initiated last summer. We have looked at every aspect of how we operate and have put in place a series of Standing Orders and Rules to ensure that we are seen to be effective, efficient and relevant.

Dromore has proved that we still have a solid electoral base—even in Jeffrey Donaldson’s own backyard! As we roll out the new structures I am certain that we can extend that electoral base, as increasing numbers of people come to realise that the Ulster Unionist Party is very firmly back on its feet and very obviously back in business.

Speaking after the UUP’s candidate, Carol Black, won the by-election to Banbridge Council, Sir Reg Empey commented:

“This really is a “Black” day for the DUP. They had forced a by-election (which has cost local ratepayers thousands of pounds) when they refused to agree with us on co-opting a candidate; and they forced the by-election because they believed that they could see off both the UUP and the TUV. They saw off neither.”

“The DUP can no longer claim to be the majority voice of unionism. In Jeffrey Donaldson’s own backyard their vote plunged from almost 50% to less than 30%.”

“I congratulate Carol on her stunning victory. She is a new voice and a new face in politics and she confounded the critics by proving that a local woman campaigning on local issues can rise above the score-settling tit-for-tat that was the hallmark of the DUP-TUV showdown.”

“I congratulate my party colleagues and supporters who came out in large numbers to bolster Carol’s campaign. I joined them on a number of occasions. They were enthusiastic and confident. They wanted to prove that the Ulster Unionist Party was back on its feet and back in business. This result is a tribute to our collective efforts.”

“I also want to thank the electorate; those who gave their first preference choice to Carol, and those who gave her a preference at a later stage. This result is a considerable improvement on our performance in March 2007: another clear sign that voters are taking us seriously again.”

“Finally, can I say this to the media in general? The UUP was virtually ignored during the election; we were assumed to be incapable of winning a seat. We have proved your predictions and analysis to be inaccurate. The Ulster Unionist Party has weathered the political storm. We are still here and we are back in business.”