03/04/2014 The View


03/04/2014

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Tonight, the First Minister unveils his "nuclear option" to solve the

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welfare reform stalemate. Handing back powers to Westminster. People

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are capable of governing -- if people are not capable of governing,

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that power should not be devolved. Why should a person needing the best

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hip operation, best cancer drugs, why should be the vanished? -- why

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should those people be punished? Peter Robinson attacks his coalition

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partners, condemns the on-the-runs deal and describes Gerry Adams as a

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negative influence at Stormont. Plus we are all minorities now. As a

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new report suggests Belfast's protestant majority has gone, how

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will politicians deal with the new reality? The chair of the Community

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Relations Council joins me live in the studio.

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And with plenty to say on all of that, we'll hear from our

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commentator double-act of Cathy Gormley- Heenan and Newton Emerson.

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And you can, of course, join the debate on Twitter. That's

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@BBCtheview. The First Minister has weighed into

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the welfare reform row, angry at what he sees as the intransigence of

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Sinn Fein on the issue. Mr Robinson has upped the stakes by discussing

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what he calls his "nuclear options". Among them, the handing back of

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certain powers to Whitehall. Earlier today, I went to Stormont Castle to

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talk to Peter Robinson. I began by asking him to explain the agreement

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on welfare reform he thought he'd reached with Martin McGuinness. We

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sat down with Sinn Fein and, for a period of six to nine months, we

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looked at the issues concerning both them and others in terms of the

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sharper edges of welfare reform. We negotiated a package, which had the

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removal of what is known as the Bedroom Tax for anybody in a

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property in Northern Ireland. And we agreed that we should have a

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contingency fund and we looked at putting aside up to 30 or ?40

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million to deal with the special hardship cases that would flow from

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it. As with any other set of negotiations, the Sinn Fein

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representatives have to go back to their party, and I have to go back

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to mine. We got approval from the Democratic Unionist Party from the

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package, Sinn Fein was not able to get agreement from their party for

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the package. And in the 11 months since then, they have never come

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back to us to ask for any further changes, nor have they succeeded in

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all of their negotiations with the British government in getting any

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changes to the process at all. Did you believe that Martin McGuinness

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and his team locally here at Stormont had agreed to a deal? I

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would not take any package to my party colleagues I was not satisfied

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with myself. So you felt he was satisfied with the compromises

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within that agreement? Neither of us were saying it was brilliant, but

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both recognise this was the best that could be made of it, providing

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the best welfare package in the whole of the United Kingdom. And it

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is your belief you took that agreement to the wider party and

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they said no? It is not my belief, it is my knowledge. He asked me to

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meet him on a Saturday when he informed me that was the case, 11

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months ago, in May of 2013, and in the intervening months, there have

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been no changes negotiated by Sinn Fein or the SDLP for that matter,

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and we have a final position, so let's remove this nonsense that

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people are still going on about that some hope we can go back and

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negotiate further. We have our final position from the Treasury, past the

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point of any return. The position has been set out in letter. The cuts

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have already begun. Does that leave due to the conclusion that Martin

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McGuinness has had his wings clipped within Sinn Fein wish and Mark --

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within Sinn Fein? Things have changed, and massively

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over the last year also, with the rise of Sinn Fein.

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over the last year also, with the clear that they are having

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difficulty in having a party in government in Northern Ireland and

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the party in opposition in the South. And the reality is the

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sensible things that you need to do and have to do, and some of them

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require difficult decisions, here in Northern Ireland, because we are in

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government, the sort of dry curry in the south, economic illiteracy in

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the side, in terms of their opposition position, they will not

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allow sensible positions to be taken in Northern Ireland, because it

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might shore up the position adopted in the side. Alex Maskey is says you

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seem to be replacing the Ulster Unionist Party as the Tory's party

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in the North with a welfare state manifesto? We will go forward with

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pragmatic decisions, which are manifesto? We will go forward with

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necessary. Not burying our head in the sand. The fact is if Sinn Fein

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does not accept the reality of the situation in terms of the budget

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cuts taking place, online services in Northern Ireland will be hit,

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that is not avoidable, the money is out of our budget, we have to reduce

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spending because they are being penalised by not putting forward the

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enhanced welfare package. That is if you except Danny Alexander's

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position... Do not accept? You are a mature and intelligent man, do not

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try to be selling. That is what Sinn Fein says. You should know better

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than to put ludicrous positions like that. Nobody believes them. Nobody

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could believe them. The Treasury has already taken the money I. How many

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times do I have to say the money is not there? -- taken the money out.

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There is already a reduction in the budget. It has already happened. So

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this is not a DUP administration, it is a coalition of five parties, so

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you and Martin McGuinness hold considerable sway, there seems to be

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no agreement between the two of you on this position. How do we move

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forward from here? You are seeing it has to happen, he says it is not

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happening. What happens next? Let us also remember we had the bases on

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which we could move forward which she could not sell to colleagues.

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which we could move forward which The reality is the cuts have taken

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place. -- which he could not sell. I am of the few we cannot have cuts in

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the health service. It has to be protected. But we need to have

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serious discussions within the executive right now, we cannot wait

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until the elections are over, until the summer is over, those decisions

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need to be taken now as to where the cuts will be imposed. The position

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of champagne is by implementing these cuts, -- the position of Sinn

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Fein is by implementing these cuts, you are taking money out of the

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local economy. This is economic illiteracy. There was a trajectory,

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which I will try to explain simply in case anyone from Sinn Fein is

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watching, the trajectory for increase in benefits was something

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of that order, but it is going to be increasing at a lower level under

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the new level. The money they are talking about is the differential

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between the perfect world and what is the case, not money coming out of

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the economy of Northern Ireland, it will not be there, though there is

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no loss of ?450 million topped about by some Sinn Fein representatives.

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-- topped about. This is mythical money. You topped last night about

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the nuclear option. If necessary. What are those options? If I start

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wheeling them out, and there are a whole series of options we can

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consider, and indeed probably most Biba that know how government

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operates knows what those options might be. But if I start wheeling

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them out, then I am threatened... But the phrase nuclear op and sounds

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very threatening, so you need to be clear. Front line services cannot

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take the cuts. Therefore we will have a penalty to pay. You cannot

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ignore it, you cannot spend as if the penalty was not imposed upon us.

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The money will not be there for us to use and if we go through spending

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limits, let's be clear what happens, the amount that we spend over what

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was allocated is taken of the following year, lust for the penalty

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is imposed upon us. So this is not something we can dodge, it is

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something we have to deal with. I suppose that is one of the economic

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nuclear options, what about the political nuclear option? When the

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bull here a phrase like that, they feel there may be some political --

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when people hear a phrase like that, they may feel there is some

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political dimensional. Any option we talk about is politics, this is all

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about politics, and can be simple saying to the government, this

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government is not competent to take difficult decisions, because two of

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the parties in the five particle addition are not prepared to take

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difficult decisions, therefore you have to take this option, -- this

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office, and some people including myself arguing that from the

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beginning, that in areas where there should be parroted it should not be

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devolved. That is one option. -- there should be parity. And are you

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coming to that view that that is what is necessary?

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If people are not capable of governing, that power should be

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double. Why should the person who needs a hip operation, the person

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who needs the best cancer drugs, why should those people be punished

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because the SDLP and Sinn Fein are not prepared to take difficult

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decisions? Are you saying that the political mature at the required to

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run Northern Ireland for ourselves does not exist at the moment and one

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of the options has to be that you go back to the Secretary of State and

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Prime Minister and say you have done your best and cannot do any more? It

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is clear that this moment it does not exist with all the parties that

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unnecessarily apart. That was one of the nuclear options. Another is to

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recognise that we will not be prepared to sign up to any budget

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next year on the prepared to sign up to any budget

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the fact that there is a reduced budget available to us. And

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therefore we would not agree that budget in those circumstances, then

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the permanent secretary of the Department of finance has to step in

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and people will only have 95% of their previous year's budget

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available and the remainder will pay for the penalties, so they will not

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dodge it one way or the other. It would get you and Sinn Fein off the

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hook if we went back to direct rule for a time. Got everything up and

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running again then said we are in the straight and narrow, you can

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reconstitute yourselves as a devolved administration. We are

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talking about two things. You are suggesting a further option, one

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that would be contemplated only in the most dire circumstances. I am

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that would be contemplated only in talking about the government taking

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back particular devolved powers. The power that has not been exercised

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properly by Sinn Fein and the SDLP, because they are refusing to deal

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with the realities and that particular power could be taken

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back. It is not available in Scotland or Wales, Northern Ireland

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alone has that power as a devolved government. That is why Scotland and

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Wales are looking at other issues and presently and of the new regime

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taking place in England. An important subject in terms of what

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you heard yesterday presumably about the alleged actions from the NIO

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regarding OTRs. We have Gerry Adams called Number 10 saying he wanted

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Gerry McGeough released, we hear Number 10 contacted the PSNI to make

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that case, that is part of an ongoing select committee enquiry,

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obviously, but quite a reaction already to some of what we heard

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yesterday. How did you regard it? Surprised? Surprised would indicate

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I did not believe that Gerry Adams would be capable of attempting to

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get anybody to bypass the normal policing and judicial processes, so

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I am not surprised that that kind of activity, I do recall when we were

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dealing with policing and justice, how we were all being lectured that

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it was essential to have a process where there was operational

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independence on the part of the police, so if at the end of the

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enquiry, the enquiry concludes that there was that interference, then

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there are questions to be asked and answered by Downing Street, The

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Northern Ireland Office and answered by Downing Street, The

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the then Chief Constable or whoever it was made contact with Norman

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Baxter on that occasion. You talked about Gerry Adams' role in that

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reported series of telephone conversations and you said you

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weren't surprised at it. How would you sum up Gerry Adams' influence

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over Stormont at the moment? He is the president of Sinn Fein, he is a

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member of the parliament in a different jurisdiction, but does he

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still have an influence over Sinn Fein in this building?

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Unquestionably, and it's a very negative influence. (xxx) I know in

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terms of getting decisions taken. The decisions we might take might

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cause difficulties for Gerry Adams and his colleagues. I know some of

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the changes taking place within personnel in Sinn Fein, more

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hard-line people of being brought in, people more akin to Gerry

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Adams' position, to ensure the Stormont politicians of Sinn Fein

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behave themselves. It is a very damaging influence. Do you think

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Martin McGuinness is less hardline than Gerry Adams, more of a

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pragmatic politician? I think there's a much more pragmatic

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approach from Martin McGuinness. He recognises what he needs to do. I

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just think there are deep divisions within Sinn Fein that are causing

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great difficulties to the process we are involved in. Finally, what would

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you say to people watching this interview who would say, frankly,

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I've had a belly full of the whole thing. As far as politicians are

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concerned, a plague on all their houses, and one thing I will not be

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doing on May the 22nd is encouraging them by voting for them, I want

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doing on May the 22nd is encouraging nothing to do with it? Undoubtedly

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there are some people who take this self-righteous position. But who are

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the politicians? The politicians are the people they elect to take the

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position is that they do. This isn't a position adopted by Peter Robinson

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or Martin McGuinness for that matter. These are positions adopted

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by the people that we represent. These are their views being

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represented. But you also have to lead. And I have offered that

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leadership. Difficult though it is, there are certain decisions that

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have to be taken. There are other people failing in leadership but

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it's not me. If you your thoughts on what the First Minister have to say,

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you can tweet us. We will hear the thoughts of

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you can tweet us. We will hear the in the programme. There has been

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peace without reconciliation, according to a new report which

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predicts trouble ahead if politicians don't stop managing the

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changing face of Belfast. That's one of the conclusions in the latest

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Peace Monitoring report. Martina Purdy has been examining some of its

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stock conclusions. -- stark conclusions.

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Belfast is a city in transition. It's also a divided city, divided by

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walls, divided even by this river. On the east bank you have a solidly

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Protestant unionist population. On the West, solidly nationalist and

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Catholic. But it's not a simple picture, as there are significant

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pockets of unionists across the north, west and south of the city.

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But the Catholic population is young, with numbers rising to 49%.

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The Protestant population is older and passing away and has dropped to

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42%. Belfast is at a tipping point, says this academic, who sees

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connection between the changing population and the row over the

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Union flag in the city. Dell fast changed. It changed from having a

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Protestant majority, which is what it is what it's always hard, two for

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the first time, the Protestant population being in a minority.

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Those figures were published in December 2012. They were published a

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week after the vote was taken in Belfast City Council. So it's not as

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if the people who came out to protest about the flag decision had

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read those figures and decided to come out and protest about them.

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Actually, sometimes people can act like human sensors. They pick up

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what's happening underneath their feet. They pick up the vibration,

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the earthquake that was happening. That earthquake is one of the themes

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of this academic's peace report. That earthquake is one of the themes

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describes young Protestant men, a quarter of them are jobless, as a

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seedbed for trouble, as they risk alienation and being drawn into a

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cultural conflict. But in north Belfast, a loyalist says he dislikes

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language like this, particularly words such as tipping point. I think

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that's dangerous language and over sympathising the problem by an

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academic. The problems are probably very similar. Youth unemployment,

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social issues, housing, regeneration problems. But at this protest camp

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in North Belfast there is a sense of cultural warfare. They've taken over

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our flag at City Hall, the demonisation of our culture will

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stop these are all things... It is basically similar to someone coming

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into your house, rearranging the furniture, it makes you feel very

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uncomfortable. While Catholics still suffer deprivation, Catholic schools

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are excelling, providing a route out of poverty. This problem was still

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going to bubble up because we've got inequality. We've got a section of

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our population, young Protestant males, who have no boots out of

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their poverty. And they experience it as inequality. The experience

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alienation. That will erupt. Both the academic and a loyalist agree

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there is a lack of vision and leadership coming from politicians

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at Stormont. Unionist politicians say this nationalist commentator are

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fighting a losing battle against change. It's been like King Canute.

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They are trying to force backed the nationalist tide and it has failed.

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All unionist politicians know the statistics quite well. They know

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exactly where it's heading. They statistics quite well. They know

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know the only outcome can be accommodation and reconciliation. As

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it points out in the report, there is peace but there's no attempt at

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whatsoever. Belfast is a colourful canvas for the artists. Cultural

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tensions between the Protestant loyal orders and Catholics are

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captured in the work of this nor best -- of Belfast artist, Jo

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McWilliams. But there's another picture from South Belfast artist

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Susan Hughes. Her exhibition has just opened at Stormont, called the

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quiet peacemakers. One of them says politicians alone can't bring

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peace, so what is missing? The acknowledgement of the peacemakers

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that exist and perhaps a connective nurse because of that. Maybe we need

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to get ourselves together and make sure we know what each other is

:22:26.:22:27.

doing. But that sure we know what each other is

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that comes from each other would make a big difference. That then

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makes us stronger to those in leadership. There are young people

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like these who are working to build bridges. They feel weighed down by

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their parents generation, a lack of support from politicians and

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negative language. Our young people are feeling like they are holding

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everybody else's past honest shoulders. They are feeling they are

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trying to move forward and be positive and trying to have a shared

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space and future, but there are certain things holding them back.

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What's your vision for the city? Just that a new light would shine on

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it. Martina Purdy on the latest Peace Monitoring report, which was

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commissioned by the Community Relations Council, whose

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commissioned by the Community Peter Osborne, is with me now. Young

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Protestant males in particular seem to feel unnerved by recent

:23:29.:23:32.

demographic changes in Belfast. What is the CRC doing to address that?

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There are two issues that spring to mind when I look at that report.

:23:38.:23:41.

First, the healing and reconciliation impulses very strong

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amongst many people in this community, young and old alike, from

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both sides as well. I see that when I go out and meet groups on the

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ground. Secondly, we are living in a city of minorities. That is

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demonstrated clearly in the 2011 Census. And we live in a region of

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minorities. It's important to recognise that because it could have

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a positive influence. Our politics and society and relationships very

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often have been dictated by a fear of domination from one side or the

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other. The fact of the matter is we are living in a region of

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minorities, and that might have a positive impact about how we work

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with each other. The report suggests the number of people wanting to live

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in mixed communities has fallen on previous years. That is a pretty

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terrible indictment on the work of the Community Relations Council in

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recent years. What have you been doing? For many years we've been

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supporting a lot of positive work on the ground across the community

:24:40.:24:44.

divide with people who are champions in their areas. What they would tell

:24:45.:24:46.

me is reaching political agreement is one thing, and a very substantial

:24:47.:24:52.

agreement, but are difficult, complex and really challenging work

:24:53.:24:57.

is peace building on the ground. The people who do that work on the

:24:58.:25:01.

ground, very often supported by the Community Relations Council, tell me

:25:02.:25:05.

they are prepared to take reasonable risks to build peace on the ground.

:25:06.:25:09.

They want to see politicians also take reasonable risks to sustain the

:25:10.:25:13.

political process. That's a challenge for everybody. But has

:25:14.:25:19.

that work paid off? We heard that working-class Protestant males in

:25:20.:25:21.

particular still feel alienated, they feel there is a cultural war

:25:22.:25:26.

being waged against them. They are not happy, they are reaching out for

:25:27.:25:29.

somebody to help them and there seems to be also a lack of political

:25:30.:25:35.

leadership. Sure, and we need to address those issues and take those

:25:36.:25:39.

issues seriously. I don't see the evidence of cultural war on the

:25:40.:25:43.

ground in terms of numbers of parades all the funding that goes

:25:44.:25:48.

into those organisations. Do you accept that is their perception? I

:25:49.:25:52.

accept that perception. The report makes it clear, a fantastic report

:25:53.:25:56.

for the third year in a row, if there is a perception that it needs

:25:57.:26:04.

addressing. Dialogue and understanding the relationships and

:26:05.:26:05.

building trust other things that need to happen to address those

:26:06.:26:08.

issues. Is it time for political leaders within unionism and loyalism

:26:09.:26:11.

to stop telling young Protestant they are losing out and that their

:26:12.:26:17.

culture is under attack? In terms of the education issues and achievement

:26:18.:26:20.

and the future in terms of young people, whether they be Protestant

:26:21.:26:24.

or Catholic from disadvantaged communities, we need to acknowledge

:26:25.:26:28.

and recognise there is a significant issue around and achievement. We

:26:29.:26:31.

need to do something about it quickly. We also need to acknowledge

:26:32.:26:36.

the need for greater investment in those schools that are working in

:26:37.:26:40.

areas where there is significant disadvantage. In England there is a

:26:41.:26:43.

Pupil Premium for those schools, recognising the additional work that

:26:44.:26:48.

is needed. And we also need to recognise there are significant,

:26:49.:26:51.

multifaceted issues within schooling and the school system, as well as

:26:52.:26:54.

outside the gates that need to be addressed in terms of communities,

:26:55.:26:58.

families and support for those young people. If you've got to join up the

:26:59.:27:06.

dots, to encourage politicians to join up the dots, what does the CRC

:27:07.:27:10.

recommend needs to be done now by government to make the community

:27:11.:27:14.

that we've identified, that this report identifies, as feeling

:27:15.:27:17.

alienated, to make it feel more valued and to seek its achievement

:27:18.:27:22.

levels increase? Elected representatives need to understand

:27:23.:27:26.

that squabbles at Stormont do undermine trust in institutions.

:27:27.:27:29.

People want to see the institutions working fairly, but they want to see

:27:30.:27:34.

them delivering results. It's interesting you just said that given

:27:35.:27:36.

what we've just interesting you just said that given

:27:37.:27:45.

Robinson is saying. I don't want to get into the detail of welfare

:27:46.:27:47.

reform, but people need to understand the impact of that in the

:27:48.:27:50.

community. In 1998, 70% of people voted in the assembly elections, it

:27:51.:27:54.

dropped in the last elections. Complacency and indifference is the

:27:55.:27:57.

enemy of the peace process and political processes. We need to

:27:58.:28:01.

address that. But we also need a strategy in government. We are

:28:02.:28:05.

looking at the shared future. Frankly, there is limited ambition

:28:06.:28:10.

at times. Where there is significant ambition, we need to have long-term

:28:11.:28:14.

commitment to make that happen. Adequate resources to make that

:28:15.:28:19.

happen, which I don't see in the medium term in years three, four,

:28:20.:28:24.

five, six and beyond. That needs to happen from government to achieve

:28:25.:28:28.

those sort of targets. We really do need to resource and take those

:28:29.:28:32.

targets seriously. We will leave it there. An interesting insight into

:28:33.:28:34.

where we are there. An interesting insight into

:28:35.:28:38.

for interesting reading. Peter Osborne, thank you for joining us.

:28:39.:28:43.

Let's find out what our commentators have to say about what they've heard

:28:44.:28:51.

this evening. Let's talk about Peter Robinson's attack on Sinn Fein's

:28:52.:28:56.

position on welfare reform. Why tonight? The most significant thing

:28:57.:29:00.

was his acknowledgement of the importance in our politics now. I

:29:01.:29:06.

wonder if Peter Robinson wasn't trying to send a message to the

:29:07.:29:09.

southern Sinn Fein constituency himself, about what it means to have

:29:10.:29:14.

Sinn Fein in government and their attempts to ride two horses at the

:29:15.:29:17.

same time. Both parties are over emphasising the attention of the

:29:18.:29:23.

southern electorate. But there is clearly a difficulty for Sinn Fein.

:29:24.:29:25.

Many commentators have said it, in clearly a difficulty for Sinn Fein.

:29:26.:29:31.

government, in Northern Ireland, in opposition in the Republic. But to

:29:32.:29:35.

an extent it's a problem Sinn Fein has caused for itself. The tale of

:29:36.:29:39.

these mythical cuts, which we have never experienced. And it gets

:29:40.:29:44.

criticised by its Labour party rivals in particular in the south or

:29:45.:29:48.

incrementing these cuts that don't actually exist. Cathy, Alex Maskey

:29:49.:29:54.

is already disputing Peter Robinson's figures on Twitter. Sinn

:29:55.:29:59.

Fein is unhappy with what Peter Robinson has said. Alex Maskey says,

:30:00.:30:02.

the First Minister would be better standing up to the Tory cuts rather

:30:03.:30:06.

than trying to explain away what he describes as an assault on the poor,

:30:07.:30:11.

disabled and unemployed. I'm sure is Sinn Fein will be unhappy tonight,

:30:12.:30:15.

but a lot of academics, community and voluntary sector organisations

:30:16.:30:18.

that have also been arguing about the impact of these cuts in Northern

:30:19.:30:20.

Ireland will also be really the impact of these cuts in Northern

:30:21.:30:26.

There was an element of scaremongering if you don't agree,

:30:27.:30:28.

here is where the cuts will fall hardest. I don't think that was

:30:29.:30:33.

particularly helpful. Following on from last week's interview with

:30:34.:30:37.

Sammy and Alex and then this tonight, what we need now is some

:30:38.:30:41.

sort of drastic intervention by Westminster because we are going

:30:42.:30:45.

nowhere fast with this tit-for-tat, back and forward disagreement about

:30:46.:30:49.

who agreed to what and so on. The bottom line is this. We don't have a

:30:50.:30:54.

la cart devolution. They can't pick and choose which bits of devolution

:30:55.:30:58.

they like best. And discard those that are unpalatable or leave a bad

:30:59.:31:04.

taste in their mouths. The First Minister outlined a scenario whereby

:31:05.:31:08.

certain fiscal powers could be handed back. That's a non-runner as

:31:09.:31:12.

far as you are concerned? Practically, without legislation

:31:13.:31:13.

being enacted in Practically, without legislation

:31:14.:31:18.

that. The DUP can't do that on its own. That is Peter Robinson

:31:19.:31:25.

conjuring up a scenario. It's a doomsday scenario. It runs contrary

:31:26.:31:30.

to the ethos of what devolution was supposed to deliver, which was local

:31:31.:31:35.

responsibility for local issues. Is the keyword to understanding all of

:31:36.:31:41.

this elections? I still believe so. There are elections in the south to

:31:42.:31:45.

get out of the way as well, then perhaps things would be expected to

:31:46.:31:49.

move on. More pressingly, we've got elections here in six weeks, too.

:31:50.:31:54.

Daily I'm starting to believe that Peter Robinson believes this is a

:31:55.:31:57.

permanent blockage, due to the importance of the South to Sinn

:31:58.:32:01.

Fein. Perhaps this is something which could drag on after the

:32:02.:32:04.

summer. I don't think anybody watching tonight who's not a

:32:05.:32:07.

traditional DUP watching tonight who's not a

:32:08.:32:10.

supporter of Peter Robinson will be endeared by the comments made

:32:11.:32:12.

tonight, because some of them were very disparaging and mean. There was

:32:13.:32:19.

a mean streak to some of it. Let's talk about the economic illiteracy.

:32:20.:32:24.

Let me experience -- explain it in clear terms. That didn't come across

:32:25.:32:29.

very well. He's obviously angry and frustrated. I thought he sounded

:32:30.:32:34.

plausible. He certainly believes that Sinn Fein has prioritised the

:32:35.:32:38.

South over everything. What about Gerry Adams' comments about that

:32:39.:32:44.

negative influence up at Stormont? Gayle anyone you speak to about

:32:45.:32:49.

Stormont politics says you can't put a paper between Martin McGuinness

:32:50.:32:52.

and Gerry Adams. They might have done this nice cop, nasty cop

:32:53.:32:57.

routine on Peter Robinson, but I think that's just Peter Robinson

:32:58.:32:58.

making a bit of trouble. think that's just Peter Robinson

:32:59.:33:04.

merry before the election. A quick word about demographic changes in

:33:05.:33:08.

Belfast. It requires an adjustment in the thinking of a lot of people.

:33:09.:33:14.

It does. The concern is around young males, young Protestant males in the

:33:15.:33:19.

city and that under achievement. It's not just educational

:33:20.:33:21.

underachievement. It's that feeling of loss and not having something to

:33:22.:33:25.

aspire to and live to. That's the big problem I think our politicians

:33:26.:33:31.

will have to address. If it were me and I was a Unionist politician

:33:32.:33:34.

going door-to-door and seeking votes, I'd be concerned that was a

:33:35.:33:38.

question I'd be asked by a voter, what are you doing for my son? The

:33:39.:33:44.

fact is that this earthquake, which you would have expected to be very

:33:45.:33:47.

serious, hasn't really been a fiasco. It hasn't sent the city up

:33:48.:33:53.

in flames. It's fascinating stuff. Happy birthday to you. Looking very

:33:54.:33:58.

glamorous because she's going out on the town. That's it from us this

:33:59.:34:03.

week. Join me on Sunday at 1130 a.m. On BBC One.

:34:04.:34:05.

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