TUV meets Secretary of State
24 March 2011
In a forthright exchange of views the TUV pressed upon Owen Paterson the inherent democratic deficit resulting from the rigged form of devolution prevailing at Stormont. Mr Allister suggested that Mr Paterson should be embarrassed travelling the world as Secretary of State for a region where an Opposition was banned from existing in the legislature and the people were denied the right to vote failed parties out of government in elections, particularly since the UK government was a trail-blazer in promoting these basics tenets of democracy across the world.
The Secretary of State was told he had compounded the situation by refusing to act to change the law whereby a Sinn Fein First Minister could be foisted on a Unionist majority in the Assembly.
Speaking of the Secretary of State’s defence of the absurd Stormont arrangements, Mr Allister said, “when you deconstruct what the Secretary of State was saying it was an admission that basic democratic rules have been set aside in order to buy off terrorism. It is on this shameful foundation that Belfast Agreement devolution is built.”
TUV also pressed Mr Paterson to commit to include provision for an Opposition in Stormont in the upcoming ‘Normalisation Bill’. His response was equivocal, but this is a subject to which TUV will return when we have MLAs in Stormont.
The party also challenged the Secretary of State’s enthusiasm for local corporation tax, suggesting that from London’s perspective this was a Treasury-backed wheeze to reduce the Block Grant, with no guarantee of any lasting economic benefit. TUV also stressed the folly of giving tax-raising powers to ministers who couldn’t even keep water in our taps or sort out education. “Letting such incompetents near the pockets of local taxpayers, corporate or personal, in circumstances where London will say you wanted tax powers, now raise what you need, was madness”, said David Vance.
