DUP MLAs split 60/40 Over Justice Proposal

The DUP apparently last night were split 60/40 over the deal regarding justice that would probably have seen an end to the long negotiations that have been going on at Hillsborough Castle.

Sammy Wilson was unusually tight lipped about events (especially when compared to some of his utterances earlier in proceedings over the last 10 days):

"You have within any organisation your internal discussions (and) when you reach conclusions which impact on the public, then you go out and you give the outcome of those conclusions and that's what we did yesterday."

It would be interesting to speculate who is on which side of that internal party divide. I can think of a few names I'd expect to see firmly in one camp or the other but don't know enough about all of them to gauge the rest.

As it it the expectation is that talks will carry on for the rest of this week. So much for Brown giving them 48 hours before him imposed anything on them last Thursday.

UPDATE: Nigel Dodds has been somewhat more forthcoming not denying that 14 MLAs voted against the decision on the table last night. But saying that "first class unionist leader" who enjoyed "full support" of the party. He also said that those against had not threatened to resign, presonally I'm not too sure that last bit is the truth there is too much history of threatening to take the ball away especially from the DUP and some of it members (especially some who are former UUP elected representatives).

Northern Ireland Update

In chess terms the parties are in adjournment.

Nobody is really sure if we are in the end game, or the more complex middle game at this point. Both Sinn Féin and the DUP left in the small hours without speaking to the press. As these are the two main players we don't know what their sealed next move is going to be.

The bright news is that nobody appears to have knocked over the board yet. Although listening to the press statement from Arlene Foster and Sammy Wilson last night they seemed most likely to do so, already laying down the back story for why that would be justified.

In the meantime something more exiting watching paint dry

Devolution Bigger Than One Man

Peter Brookes in The Times 9 January 2010

Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward has insisted that the "devolution process is bigger than one man" as the DUP after expelling Iris Robinson turns its attention this week to her husband.

A Senior Free Presbyterian Minister, the church founded by Ian Paisley, the Rev David McIlveen has joined calls for the First Minister to step down saying:

"I do believe that his position is becoming increasingly untenable. He has a major problem with regard to solving his own family difficulties and I personally cannot take the view that a person's private life does not affect their public life."

So if at the end of the week Peter Robinson does step down who is liable to replace his as leader of the DUP and First Minister. There is talk of moves to make Sammy Wilson take the role as first Minister and Arlene Foster the role of party leader in a split role.

Sammy started his life with the DUP as their press officer in 1981, and shortly after was elected to Belfast City Council, a position he still holds. He was the first DUP Lord Mayor of the city in 1986/7 a position he held again in 2000/1. He's been an ever present Assembly Member being returned in the first election in 1998 for East Belfast, and for the second in 2003 for East Antrim. In 2005 he defeated Ulster Unionist Roy Beggs who had been MP for 22 years to take the Westminster seat as well with a majority of 7,304; he'd just failed to do so in 2001 by 128 votes.

Sammy entered ministerial office as Minister for the Environment, where he famously showed climate change denying tenancies with quotes such as "reasoned debate must replace the scaremongering of the green climate alarmists" and "resources should be used to adapt to the consequences of climate change, rather than King Canute-style vainly trying to stop it". After failing to introduce an independent environmental protection agency and banning a climate change advert from Northern Irish screens in February 2009, he was moved in the June 2009 to Department of Finance and Personnel.

Peter Robinson described him on his appointment as the "most qualified finance minister Northern Ireland has had in decades", with his degree in Economics and Politics from Queens, and subsequent teaching qualification for the same. Here too he has not avoided criticism this time from the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities when he said "jobs should go to people born in Northern Ireland before going to economic migrants". Also when their were attacks on Romanian people in Belfast he had said "charges of racism were always coincided with the holding out of the hand for more money".

His voting record in Westminster indicates:

• Voted a mixture of for and against a transparent Parliament.
• Voted very strongly for introducing a smoking ban.
• Voted strongly against introducing ID cards.
• Voted moderately against Labour's anti-terrorism laws.
• Voted moderately for an investigation into the Iraq war.
• Voted for replacing Trident.
• Voted moderately against equal gay rights.
• Voted strongly against laws to stop climate change.

Arlene started out life in the UUP and it was with them that she was elected in the November 2003 Assembly elections for Fermanagh and South Tyrone. However, on 5 January 2004 she along Jeffrey Donaldson and Norah Beare in joining the DUP after resigning from the UUP the month before. She became the Environment Minister in May 2007, one of her early roles was to preliminary approval to a privately financed scheme for a new Giant's Causeway Centre, shortly after doing so the public money to Northern Ireland's top tourist destination was frozen. She was succeeded in this role when she was reshuffled to the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment.

Others who may throw their hat into a contest though may include Jeffrey Donaldson or Nigel Dodds both of whom are experienced DUP politicians.

Sammy Wilson an Insidious Propaganda Machine

Back in the summer of 1987 I had a temporary Economics teacherat Regent House. At the time he was a Belfast City Councillor and press officer for the DUP. We would occasionally have our classed broken my his phone and early mobile going off in the the storeroom where it was inevitably on charge.

We had a propaganda machine in our classroom. That early mobile would feed one sides argument to the BBC, UTV or the printed press.

That propaganda machine's user is now the Northern Irish Environment Minister Sammy Wilson MP, MLA. Not everyone, certainly not the majorities, ideal choice of environment minister as he is a climate change denier. He hasn't got of to a good start with many of his pronouncements thus far.

Well he has truly but his foot in it this time. The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change was to run a advertisement campaign in all parts of the UK except Scotland. Scotland were excused because the Scottish executive was planning its own campaign on the same lines. Sammy has said NO! to showing the ad in Northern Ireland. He called it an "insidious propaganda machine".

Now the ad it right out there how it can be working or spreading any message harmfully in a subtle or stealthy manner to make it insidious is beyond me. Maybe one of the lads he taught that summer in 1987, who went on to take Economics at University and took two specialist courses in environmental and energy economics could give his old teacher a lesson on the subject of his brief. That is something I may get around to later today.

In the meantime there are obviously calls for the resignation of a Minister who doesn't have the best insterests of the electorate for his brief to the forefront of his actions.

Environment Sammy Sceptical on CO2

It may appear that this week I'm deliberately out to get at the DUP, but I can assure readers that they just are the ones that are featuring in the stories that are sparking my blogging juices.

Way back in 1987 for the last month of my Lower Sixth year I had a supply teacher for my Economics A'Level course. In the recent reshuffle by the new Northern Irish First Minister Peter Robinson appointed him the new Minister for the Environment. Sadly back then, aged only 17, I didn't had the economic grounding and certainly not the environmental economics knowledge I later attained at Kingston to hold a debate with Sammy Wilson about such things. However, his comments upon taking up his new role do lead be to want to debate some points with him.

You see Sammy Wilson MP MLA is a CO2 sceptic when it comes to Climate Change. Ok he says it is not responsible for all climate change, yes there are other greenhouse gases which have an affect however he is denying that CO2 has as major an effect as it actually does have. He does not support green taxes to change behaviour as he see the effects in reducing CO2 as minimal, but every change causing a reduction is required, if you add up a lot of minimal changes you get significant change. Isn't that a basic principle in economics; economies of scale? He has been the sole voice of being more sceptical than most sceptics are even ignoring that Climate Change is occurring.

Well Sammy within 2 years of being in your class room I realised that Climate Change was occurring. Leading on from the grounding I had from you and others I realised that the eventual solution would have to be economic and political and have to cross national boundaries, because what we were fighting was not contained by human demarcation of divides. To have you in charge of DENI when many in Northern Ireland and the world are doing their bit to slow down, halt or reverse the affects of Climate Change is not the best scenario. The people of Northern Ireland deserve an Environment Minister who cares about all areas of the environment and I hope they continue to lobby you and educate you so that you see what environmental change can be wrought through your position of responsibility.