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Ulster Unionist East Belfast Representative Michael Copeland said today’s 14% hike in the price of Economy 7 electricity would punish those already suffering from fuel poverty and those who needed to keep warm the most.

In a statement Mr Copeland said,

“This 14% hike is punitive. It is estimated that one in four households in Northern Ireland suffers from fuel poverty. These one in four households are more likely to be using Economy 7 as it was widely understood to be cost effective. Not any more!

In my own constituency there are thousands of citizens using Economy 7. These are homes that in many cases suffer from economic hardship or where the wages or benefits received are not going up as the cost of living goes up.

Only today I visited sheltered accommodation where Economy 7 heating, as it is, doesn’t offer adequate heating within the existing budget. Coming into winter this problem will only get worse.

I would urge the Social Development Minister to increase winter fuel payments to match this punitive hike.”

UUP East Belfast Representative Michael Copeland today said he shared residents concern at plans to extend the runway at George Best Belfast City Airport.

Mr Copeland said that Mr O’Leary, whose questionable use of Martin McGuinness in an advert promoting low fares from Belfast has already raised the heckles of many, was upsetting the already fragile truce between the airport and local residents.

In a statement Mr Copeland said,

“I can presently see no merits in plans to extend the runway at the Airport, the existing one seems to work perfectly well for the carriers already in place with BMI flying larger planes in and out on a daily basis.

Residents are well aware of plans to increase traffic by up to a Million at the airport but there are already agreed restrictions affecting night flights, curfews and the number of seats sold, currently a generous 1.5 Million.

Residents are rightly concerned that the airport are constantly trying to move the goalposts. The airport management are, naturally for a business, seeking to expand and generate more revenue. This is good for Northern Ireland. But equally the residents in East Belfast and the Holywood area are entitled to a decent quality of life, free from constant aircraft noise and, with a proposed greater number of flights, an increased threat to their safety.

Mr O’Leary may champion the use of ‘quieter’ aircraft but to a resident there is little difference to a quiet plane or a loud one at take off and landing.

I have written to the Ryanair boss seeking further details of his rationale in seeking to extend the runway at the Airport. I trust that his response will be prompter than his still awaited reply to my query about his ridiculous ‘flights so low even the British Army flew home’ advert which has caused a great deal of offence amongst the people he needs to try and win over with his plans for the George Best Belfast City Airport.”

UUP Social Development spokesman Michael Copeland today responded to the Federation of Housing Associations call for social housing provision to be placed at the top of the Assembly agenda.

In a statement Mr Copeland, who held discussions with Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie yesterday on the housing shortage in East Belfast, said in a statement,

“I echo the calls of the Federation of Housing Associations. In my experience there are two basic common threads that stand out and need to be urgently addressed when looking at the overall situation.

Firstly, the state of many of the properties are deteriorating or have already deteriorated to sub-standard levels. Secondly, demand is outstripping supply.

Many of the cases I deal with are for those who have been left with faulty heating systems, leaking roofs, overcrowding, damp and in some extreme cases, rat infestations. Nobody, whatever circumstances that they find themselves in, should have to live with these conditions.

Our Offices have details of a great many of sub-standard Executive houses and many horror stories of the residents of some of these properties. I am convinced that while large in number, our files are only giving us a pixel of the overall picture.

This crisis will get worse. That is why a serious attempt must be made to tackle it. The sticking plaster approach of throwing a few thousand here, a million there will not work in the long run. 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.

For me 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 Budget, limited as it is, must do more to start tackling the problem otherwise I can foresee the sight of a great many more homeless people on the streets of Northern Ireland.”

Ulster Unionist Parades Spokesman Michael Copeland today described the Parades Commission determination regarding Number 4 Grand Black Chapter as hopefully the dying throes of a failed entity.

In a statement Mr Copeland said,

“Given the recent events in Belfast City Centre during a so-called truth march which saw masked and, for all we know, armed men prancing around apparently unmolested by the Police - in circumstances considered by the Parades Commission as not worthy of comment or determination – we now have a restriction placed on the playing of music on the lower part of the Newtownards Road in the last Saturday in August. This is a section of road which in terms of postal addresses is 100% Unionist.

Once again the Parades Commission which is singularly silent regarding the twelfth of July is attempting to confront and browbeat the more elderly and perhaps more dignified membership of the Royal Black Perceptory, at the behest of those serial objectors who apparently have no difficulty with the events in Belfast City centre previously described.

In this allegedly democratic society, churches should be beacons of tolerance, mutual respect and the defenders of freedom of Assembly and expressions of belief. This determination has reduced St Mathews to nothing more than a pawn to be repeatedly used by the Parades Commission as a convenient excuse in its campaign against one section of our community. “

UUP East Belfast Representative and Castlereagh Councillor Michael Copeland today backed calls for a special medal to be awarded to British troops fighting Taliban in Afghanistan and urged the Northern Ireland public to sign a petition on the downing street website.

The online petition posted on the number 10 website seeks to award soldiers with a special medal above the standard Operational Service Medal.

Mr Copeland said given the high number of soldiers from Northern Ireland who have and are serving in Afghanistan, a special medal was only fitting.

He said,

“I fully support efforts to petition the government for a special medal, above the Operational Service Medal, for our troops who have served, are serving, or whom are still to serve in Afghanistan.

I think the public are only too aware of the intensity of the conflict with the Taliban, where many British Troops lives have been lost and where some of the fighting is the most ferocious seen in decades.

Given the high numbers of troops from Northern Ireland who have served and are in Afghanistan, I would hope that the public here would join me in supporting the call for a special medal and will, like me, sign the petition.”

UUP East Belfast Representative and Castlereagh Cllr. Michael Copeland today said Ryanair had managed to alienate a sizeable chunk of the Northern Ireland travelling public with an advert starring Martin McGuinness and proclaiming that their fares are so low ‘even the British Army flew home.’

Mr Copeland said the advert was scrapping the barrel.

In a statement he said

“The Ryanair marketing department are clearly stupid if they think that an advert like this is going to endear their company to a large chunk of the Northern Ireland travelling public.

Deliberately provocative, this advert is insensitive, crass and makes a clear political statement on the part of Ryanair.

To many like me who served in the Army Northern Ireland is home. This shock tactic and ‘oh no they didn’t’ style of advertising may have worked in the past but I would recommend that Ryanair focuses on what it does best: cheap flights, rather than offending people with crass advertising like this.”

Ulster Unionist East Belfast representative Michael Copeland has described as bizarre a letter from the Army delivered to his parents home advising him that he could become an important part of future mobilisations around the globe.

Mr Copeland is 53 years of age and last wore a uniform over 30 years ago. He has also been disabled for 25 years as a result of a polio related virus.

The UUP man has given two possible explanations for the letter: it is either an internal record keeping exercise, or a measure of how desperate the government has become after years of cutting army numbers and slashing the defence budget.

In a statement Mr Copeland said,

“As a man no longer in his prime, 53 years old and moderately disabled after contracting a form of the polio virus 25 years ago I was somewhat surprised to read a letter sent to my parents home advising me that I remained a “vital, contributory part of the UK defence plan” and could become “an important part of future mobilisations”.

I left the Ulster Defence Regiment over 30 years ago and at that time transferred to the regular army reserve of officers. Since then I have received no communications from the army until this letter arrived. I would of course be ready, willing and pleased to discharge any obligation arising from my former service, although in what capacity would be hard to envisage in my current circumstances.

This letter could be seen as one of two things, an attempt to update records, which even after a lapse of 30 years could in some circumstances be understandable, or more worryingly, an indication of the perilous effects of years of cutting army numbers and slashing the defence budget and ill-conceived, politically motivated and under-resourced adventures.

Given the recent disbandment of the Home Service Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, who as a readily available, locally recruited aid to the civil power, freed up military resources for global deployment, I sincerely hope that the former rather than the latter explanation is correct.”

Ulster Unionist Parades Spokesman Michael Copeland today reflected on the recent twelfth celebrations and welcomed the fact that while a number of initiatives designed to cut down on the ‘blue bag brigade’ had worked there was still much more to be done to cut down on excessive and often underage drinking at parades.

In a statement Mr Copeland said,

“The Twelfth celebrations seem to be going from strength to strength year after year and it is encouraging to see many more families and foreign visitors enjoying the spectacle and fun that the Twelfth of July celebrations offer.

However there are still far too many reports of people’s days being spoilt by a few young people off their heads on alcohol drunkenly following the parades. Children as young as ten were seen swigging from bottles. This is not what anyone wants or needs to see.

While a number of initiatives to cut down on the ‘blue bag brigade’ have been successful across the Province much more work needs to be done. I believe that the efforts of Ms Hutton and her group in East Belfast, who handed out flyers and posters highlighting that excessive drinking spoiled the parade and is disrespectful to the people being commemorated, are the benchmark and the way forward.

Equally the efforts of Grand Lodge are to be congratulated for making the twelfth more accessible to everyone.

I will be suggesting to Grand Lodge and other interested parties that work begins now on awareness building with young people that the twelfth is to be celebrated for all the right reasons and not just as an excuse to get blind drunk.”

Ulster Unionist Social Development spokesman and UUP East Belfast Representative Michael Copeland today attacked Alliance Leader David Ford who said the £5 Million emergency fund earmarked for those who suffered damage to their homes and livelihoods ‘set a dangerous precedent’. The UUP man also called on MLA Naomi Long to clarify whether or not she shares the view of her party Leader.

In a statement Mr Copeland said,

“The flooding in East Belfast last week was some of the worst seen for decades. Regardless of the failings of our outdated drainage and sewerage systems, the human cost is incalculable.

I was on the ground during the worst of it. Houses were damaged; electrical goods and home furnishings ruined. Homes that take many years to get just right and have had hard work and pride poured into them have been ruined.

Politicians exist to serve the people. They exist to help the people.

If our devolved institutions cannot deliver a solution after the worst flooding in years and alleviate the financial burden on those who perhaps cannot afford adequate cover for their belongings because they do not have the means to do so, then frankly I have no idea what a politician is for.

Mr Ford’s assertion that this much needed help sets a dangerous precedent is ludicrous and scrooge-like. I call on Naomi Long to spell out whether she shares the views of her Party Leader. If she does perhaps she’d like to explain those views to the many residents in East Belfast who are rebuilding their lives and homes. The people of East Belfast are a resilient bunch and will bounce back. But they need help to do so. It appears that this is beyond the comprehension of Mr Ford and his Party.”

UUP East Belfast representative Michael Copeland today said that some residents in East Belfast who have lived in constant fear of repeated flooding have had their fears vindicated.

The problem itself stems from undercapacity in the drains from new developments combined with today’s heavy rainfall. The existing drainage system cannot cope.

In a statement Mr Copeland said:

“There is insufficient capacity in the existing drains and sewerage system, and the situation is exacerbated by the growth of houses of multiple occupancy and new apartments that are mushrooming in the area.

I have had a number of meetings with Roads Service representatives and am seeking to arrange a joint meeting between the Roads and Water services to see whether the situation can be resolved. At present we have the ridiculous situation where the Water service say it’s not their problem as it is surface water and the Roads service maintaining it isn’t their problem because the problem stems from drains.

Meanwhile many residents are living in constant fear of flooding and no solution has been forthcoming. This is clearly unacceptable and I will be pushing both services for action and a solution to be found.”