Browse content similar to 01/06/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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we're heading back to the polling booths. | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
To help you decide, we've invited the leaders of the larger parties | :00:00. | :00:10. | |
to a debate in front of a studio audience. | :00:11. | :00:14. | |
BBC Election 2017, the Northern Ireland Leaders' Debate. | :00:15. | :00:19. | |
Tuesday, at 9pm on BBC ONE Northern Ireland. | :00:20. | :00:45. | |
Who's been making the best pitch to the people of South Belfast? | :00:46. | :00:51. | |
With just one week to go to polling day, we've come | :00:52. | :00:53. | |
The traders at St George's have very kindly made way for us tonight, | :00:54. | :01:20. | |
just a few hours before it all swings into action | :01:21. | :01:22. | |
This is shaping up to be a very tight fight in South Belfast. | :01:23. | :01:29. | |
Two years ago, the then SDLP leader, Alasdair McDonnell, scraped home | :01:30. | :01:34. | |
with the smallest share of the vote ever in a Westminster election. | :01:35. | :01:38. | |
He's back in the fray this time, facing several opponents who say | :01:39. | :01:41. | |
they're confident they can unseat him this time. | :01:42. | :01:42. | |
On this specially extended edition of the programme, | :01:43. | :01:48. | |
we're welcoming six of the candidates who will | :01:49. | :01:50. | |
be setting out their stalls for us tonight. | :01:51. | :01:52. | |
So, joining me tonight from the SDLP is Alasdair McDonnell, | :01:53. | :01:55. | |
Paula Bradshaw is the candidate for the Alliance Party, | :01:56. | :01:57. | |
Mairtin O Muilleoir is standing for Sinn Fein and also joining us | :01:58. | :02:00. | |
We also have the DUP's candidate, Emma Little Pengelly, | :02:01. | :02:04. | |
and the Ulster Unionists' Michael Henderson. | :02:05. | :02:07. | |
There's a full list of candidates on the BBC New NI website. | :02:08. | :02:16. | |
We have a range of questions to put to the candidates tonight, | :02:17. | :02:28. | |
questions which we think represent some of the key areas of debate | :02:29. | :02:30. | |
in South Belfast and which resonate right across Northern Ireland. | :02:31. | :02:34. | |
And to get things going, our first question comes from Cathal McCall, | :02:35. | :02:37. | |
a Professor of European Politics at Queen's University. | :02:38. | :02:39. | |
Do calls for a referendum on a reunite -- united Ireland once the | :02:40. | :02:54. | |
Brexit negotiators have concluded not risk exacerbating division | :02:55. | :03:00. | |
between Unionism and nationalism. I don't think so, in fact increase in | :03:01. | :03:06. | |
the since the June 23 referendum I've met people from across the | :03:07. | :03:10. | |
constituency of South Belfast who say we're going to have to sort out | :03:11. | :03:15. | |
how we live together on this island, reconcile people in a united | :03:16. | :03:23. | |
Ireland. But we really need to have a -- and adult conversation about | :03:24. | :03:30. | |
the benefits. I will argue about the benefits to our community, but it | :03:31. | :03:37. | |
has to be done in a discerning, sensitive fashion because the common | :03:38. | :03:41. | |
ground in Belfast, and this market is a great example of how the common | :03:42. | :03:47. | |
ground has expanded in Belfast, let's make sure that when we have | :03:48. | :03:52. | |
the unity referendum, let's make sure the choice is between being | :03:53. | :03:57. | |
part of the EU and being part of an isolated so-called United Kingdom. | :03:58. | :04:05. | |
Alasdair, your participants to have shifted on this. It is now being | :04:06. | :04:09. | |
talked about a lot under the leadership of: Eastwood. It | :04:10. | :04:14. | |
shouldn't be a surprise to anybody that a nationalist party has an | :04:15. | :04:22. | |
interest in a united Ireland. The change now is that the Brexit vote | :04:23. | :04:28. | |
of one year ago has totally created a flux in our politics here and | :04:29. | :04:32. | |
created a frail pall of all sorts of interest, -- if whirlpool. And it | :04:33. | :04:39. | |
will have to be faced down the road at some point. It's not going to | :04:40. | :04:45. | |
play very well with your potential voters in South Belfast, is it? We | :04:46. | :04:51. | |
are not in here to play games or create posers just for the sake of | :04:52. | :04:57. | |
it. We are in this to do with the challenge of Brexit. Brexit has | :04:58. | :05:01. | |
thrust us into a difficult space, because we had stability here for | :05:02. | :05:05. | |
the last 19 years of a sort but allowed us to make some degree of | :05:06. | :05:09. | |
progress, the Good Friday Agreement is effectively seriously undermined | :05:10. | :05:15. | |
and threatened by the decision to leave Europe, and that creates a | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
whole flux. I am meeting people on the doorstep who would not normally | :05:20. | :05:23. | |
be still be supporters or nationalists, who are saying we are | :05:24. | :05:28. | |
going to have to look to Dublin, and work with Dublin in terms of taking | :05:29. | :05:33. | |
ourselves forward. So there is an issue there, and it will be an | :05:34. | :05:39. | |
ongoing issue because the situation has been destabilised, and will | :05:40. | :05:43. | |
remain destabilised until we get it sorted out and destabilised again. | :05:44. | :05:50. | |
Title-macro, you are a supporter of Brexit, look at what has come with | :05:51. | :05:56. | |
it. -- Emma Pengelly. It would create further instability at a time | :05:57. | :06:02. | |
when there is much going on in terms of the Brexit issue. I'm here today | :06:03. | :06:06. | |
to say to everybody across South Belfast but I will fight for the | :06:07. | :06:11. | |
best possible deal for South Belfast, Northern Ireland and the UK | :06:12. | :06:15. | |
in those discussions. There will of course be uncertainty and challenges | :06:16. | :06:20. | |
with that, but we need to take -- get the best possible deal. The last | :06:21. | :06:25. | |
thing we need here is that type of referendum, and the last thing the | :06:26. | :06:36. | |
UK needs in Scotland is the same thing. We need to work hard for | :06:37. | :06:39. | |
people and get the best deal for South Belfast, Northern Ireland and | :06:40. | :06:42. | |
the United Kingdom in this. Let's go back to our questionnaire, what do | :06:43. | :06:45. | |
you think of the way this issue is now shipping the debate. I think it | :06:46. | :06:52. | |
is moving away from an immediate pressing concern, which is the -- a | :06:53. | :07:00. | |
soft Irish border. We already see the political divisions in the | :07:01. | :07:05. | |
answers so far. Alasdair talks about this issue of Irish unification | :07:06. | :07:08. | |
having to be addressed further down the road. We have something right in | :07:09. | :07:15. | |
front of us on the road, the forthcoming Brexit negotiations, | :07:16. | :07:17. | |
whereby the political parties here need to be speaking with one voice | :07:18. | :07:21. | |
in order to lobby those involved in those negotiations and attempt to | :07:22. | :07:28. | |
preserve our open soft border. Livelihoods are at stake here, and | :07:29. | :07:32. | |
lifestyle that people have enjoyed for over two decades are also at | :07:33. | :07:37. | |
risk. And it is a very complicated issue, Brexit. Are you concerned | :07:38. | :07:44. | |
that this has opened a whole can of worms, and it risks turning us back | :07:45. | :07:49. | |
to the old debate about orange and green? I'm afraid it does, and I go | :07:50. | :07:54. | |
back to my point but we are facing a really critical number of months | :07:55. | :08:00. | |
ahead with these Brexit negotiations. If our political | :08:01. | :08:03. | |
leaders could speak with one voice on a number of issues and come up | :08:04. | :08:08. | |
with innovative and imaginative solutions that all agree on, surely | :08:09. | :08:14. | |
that would be listened to by all sides in this negotiation in | :08:15. | :08:19. | |
Brussels. How do we speak with one voice with those who wish to drag us | :08:20. | :08:25. | |
out of Europe against our stated intentions, 56% voted to stay, had a | :08:26. | :08:29. | |
respect for those who said in a BBC studio that they do not care about | :08:30. | :08:33. | |
the ramifications in terms of jobs? I will stand with everyone who wants | :08:34. | :08:39. | |
to defend jobs, the community, the peace process, make sure the funding | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
continues to flow, but it is not possible to speak with one voice | :08:44. | :08:49. | |
with David Davis or those who want a reckless Brexit. I am not | :08:50. | :08:55. | |
particularly concerned about David Davis at this point of time given | :08:56. | :08:59. | |
that the EU commissioner leading Brexit has actually visited the | :09:00. | :09:05. | |
Irish border, I don't believe David Davis has been anywhere near it. | :09:06. | :09:09. | |
What I am asking for its political leaders here to come up with some | :09:10. | :09:15. | |
sort of consensus for how to address particular issues. Your party's | :09:16. | :09:25. | |
clear you don't take a border poll is helpful. Yes, I think it is | :09:26. | :09:31. | |
shameful this has been brought into the argument. This is not about the | :09:32. | :09:35. | |
politics of the past, the politics of fear, sectarian headcount winner | :09:36. | :09:39. | |
to decouple the Brexit issue from the border issue in Northern | :09:40. | :09:44. | |
Ireland. We have got so much work to do, this is not about sweeping | :09:45. | :09:47. | |
statements, this is about cool heads, building relationships. I | :09:48. | :09:54. | |
don't believe I would dispute what Mairtin says, I don't believe all 18 | :09:55. | :10:01. | |
MPs will not be looking for the best deal and trying to safeguard jobs | :10:02. | :10:06. | |
and ensuring a free flow of labour. There is an opportunity for all 18 | :10:07. | :10:11. | |
MPs to work together, because 18 out of 650 is not a great number, but | :10:12. | :10:16. | |
one out of six and 50 is even smaller. Wind to -- 650. We need to | :10:17. | :10:23. | |
decouple it from the green and orange, that has held this country | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
back for too long, and the next five years are two vital for us to keep | :10:29. | :10:36. | |
squabbling over these issues. Michael Henderson, your party leader | :10:37. | :10:40. | |
said this is a back door to a Ireland. We are in a constituency | :10:41. | :10:47. | |
where 70% of the people voted to remain in the European Union. As | :10:48. | :10:57. | |
Robin says, we took this photo, it was a UK-based referendum. -- this | :10:58. | :11:06. | |
vote. Are you happy we are living? I am personally happy that we need to | :11:07. | :11:10. | |
negotiate contracts and work together for the best deal for | :11:11. | :11:17. | |
Northern Ireland. But are you put a happy yes, we need to know... You | :11:18. | :11:25. | |
were pro-Brexit? I was. Because your party's position was pro-remain. | :11:26. | :11:32. | |
Yes, but we need to work together to get the best deal for the United | :11:33. | :11:36. | |
Kingdom in these negotiations. As for the border poll, it is laid out | :11:37. | :11:37. | |
quite clear back were we should be doing | :11:38. | :12:10. | |
is looking at what we can do for MPs to give the best deal for Northern | :12:11. | :12:18. | |
Ireland for us going forward. If unionists are so confident, what a | :12:19. | :12:23. | |
you afraid of a referendum? Won the best deal for Northern Ireland was | :12:24. | :12:26. | |
to stay in Europe and reform Europe. We cannot argue about the best deal | :12:27. | :12:30. | |
if we are good to take it off the table. We have to work, and a lot of | :12:31. | :12:36. | |
people are making comments here, I think quite simply we've got to get | :12:37. | :12:41. | |
on with it. The talk is cheap until you have to do some work, and we | :12:42. | :12:46. | |
must work together, there is a gap at Stormont, we have to get Stormont | :12:47. | :12:51. | |
back in place, get the Executive up and running again. Scotland had an | :12:52. | :12:54. | |
arrangement to deal with Europe within a couple of weeks of the | :12:55. | :12:57. | |
referendum, we also had an arrangement, we are still sitting... | :12:58. | :13:08. | |
A few of us, a number of people at Queens and a number of others from | :13:09. | :13:11. | |
political and business life are struggling around at the moment | :13:12. | :13:14. | |
trying to define a vision for Northern Ireland. And that will be | :13:15. | :13:18. | |
essential, Northern Ireland, people around this table are going to have | :13:19. | :13:21. | |
to work together even if they disagree. I want to bring in a tax | :13:22. | :13:30. | |
accountant whose offices are just around the corner from here. | :13:31. | :13:35. | |
Lorraine, is it the case that the advice you are giving to your | :13:36. | :13:40. | |
clients is that whether they like Brexit or not, they've got to get on | :13:41. | :13:44. | |
and make the best of it in the circumstances and look for | :13:45. | :13:46. | |
opportunities where they may present themselves? Where advising | :13:47. | :13:50. | |
businesses they need to evaluate their supply chains, where they are | :13:51. | :13:54. | |
exporting and importing from. Whenever we come out of the EU, | :13:55. | :14:00. | |
where is the best marketplace going to be? What are the tariffs and | :14:01. | :14:05. | |
custom duties going to be? How would you sum up, Lorraine, the mood of | :14:06. | :14:10. | |
the business representatives you're talking to? Are they fairly gung ho | :14:11. | :14:16. | |
about the possibilities that my lie ahead even if they will remain as | :14:17. | :14:23. | |
last June or is there a sense of depression that the opportunities | :14:24. | :14:31. | |
may not be there? I think it is probably the frustration and | :14:32. | :14:34. | |
uncertainty of the tour because we don't know where were going to be. | :14:35. | :14:39. | |
With the politicians? Yes, as well because at the minute we don't have | :14:40. | :14:44. | |
a voice at Westminster in relation to negotiations. And it isn't one | :14:45. | :14:50. | |
voice for Northern Ireland, going back to a few statements be but have | :14:51. | :14:57. | |
said already. Businesses, at the minute there is a lot of growth in | :14:58. | :15:00. | |
Belfast but those things don't happen overnight. It takes two or | :15:01. | :15:06. | |
three years to plan big investments so it'll be two or three years down | :15:07. | :15:12. | |
the line before the lack of investment. Claire Bailey, what is | :15:13. | :15:20. | |
the Green Party's position on a border poll? We don't think it is a | :15:21. | :15:24. | |
positive element to be thrown in right now and the only referendum we | :15:25. | :15:28. | |
should be focusing on is the referendum for the people on the | :15:29. | :15:32. | |
final deal that is represented on Brexit negotiations. What we are | :15:33. | :15:37. | |
missing in Northern Ireland in this process is a voice speaking up on | :15:38. | :15:42. | |
our behalf. That won't be a single voice from any MP that is elected on | :15:43. | :15:48. | |
June the 8th. The imperative now is to have a functioning executive up | :15:49. | :15:52. | |
and running. We need the institutions functioning again and | :15:53. | :15:56. | |
we need somebody at the table in the negotiations fighting for our corner | :15:57. | :16:01. | |
because I don't think even a UK wide deal will suffice because Northern | :16:02. | :16:05. | |
Ireland does have special circumstances. It does have | :16:06. | :16:09. | |
particular instances that need to be focused on as well and we need | :16:10. | :16:14. | |
somebody at the table fighting our corner, making sure Theresa May and | :16:15. | :16:18. | |
David Davis know what the impact of any negotiations and anything there | :16:19. | :16:21. | |
thinking about on us in Northern Ireland. That is where it needs to | :16:22. | :16:27. | |
be, the focus, instead of stirring up fear and anxiety. We already have | :16:28. | :16:32. | |
an identity crisis, we shouldn't add to it, we should be making people | :16:33. | :16:36. | |
feel secure and putting a referendum on the final deal for the people to | :16:37. | :16:40. | |
have their final say. OK, there's a chap in the blue shirt who wants to | :16:41. | :16:48. | |
make a comment. Add can we trust you to deliver a vote when you can't | :16:49. | :16:56. | |
deliver a functioning and executive quiz White do you know how you're | :16:57. | :17:04. | |
going to vote on June the 8th? Yes. -- no. How can you prove the | :17:05. | :17:13. | |
politics of the DUP works? It is imperative we have a functioning | :17:14. | :17:16. | |
executives. The DUP has said they have no redlines. I've knocked on | :17:17. | :17:23. | |
20,000 doors, me and my team, so far and the clear message from people on | :17:24. | :17:27. | |
the ground is get back to work, get back into Stormont because the | :17:28. | :17:31. | |
issues that matter to us, issues like education, health, the economy, | :17:32. | :17:35. | |
these things are suffering. It is partly awful in the DUP we don't | :17:36. | :17:39. | |
have the devolved institution. We believe very strongly pulling down | :17:40. | :17:45. | |
the institutions was unnecessary at the time. It is a hallmark of a | :17:46. | :17:48. | |
mature government you work through these issues and continue to provide | :17:49. | :17:53. | |
core services for people. That is the mandate we have, that is the | :17:54. | :17:57. | |
responsibility we have. The institutions shouldn't have been | :17:58. | :18:00. | |
pulled down. I'm putting a challenge down to Sinn Fein to drop their | :18:01. | :18:04. | |
redlines, get back to government and deliver for people in terms of | :18:05. | :18:07. | |
health and education because that is what people are telling us they | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
want. We might discuss that later in the programme. Mairtin, howdy | :18:13. | :18:18. | |
persuade people you are deserving of their votes next Thursday? What we | :18:19. | :18:24. | |
say to people who'd ask the question, how can you trust the DUP? | :18:25. | :18:40. | |
The DUP and Sinn Fein. Red sky, it is a DUP scandal. And Sinn Fein. I | :18:41. | :18:48. | |
am going to move on to the second 50% of the question later. I don't | :18:49. | :18:52. | |
know how you trust the DUP because I don't. As you ponder whether or not | :18:53. | :18:56. | |
you contraption fame, firstly they don't have a budget because the | :18:57. | :19:01. | |
institution has collapsed. Our executive collapsed in December. | :19:02. | :19:09. | |
Look at what Martin McGuinness dead. There are people trying to shoot me | :19:10. | :19:13. | |
down and I've been at this along time. Look at what the stance of | :19:14. | :19:18. | |
Martin McGuinness. Was he right to stand up to the arrogance and | :19:19. | :19:22. | |
discrimination of the DUP and to the scandals which have tainted the DUP? | :19:23. | :19:27. | |
I ask, as I do on the doorsteps, what he right? Should he have turned | :19:28. | :19:35. | |
a blind eye to ?80,000 a day being lost? To the synced sectarianism? | :19:36. | :19:43. | |
People are saying no. Martin was right to call time on it, and what | :19:44. | :19:49. | |
was happening was unacceptable. Trust Sinn Fein, I say. The | :19:50. | :19:54. | |
Executive should have known in the first place! We say the DUP have | :19:55. | :20:02. | |
turned their back. Arrogance and disrespect. It was your | :20:03. | :20:07. | |
responsibility to bring forward a budget. I was chair of the Finance | :20:08. | :20:11. | |
committee. The committee asked this man to come along and explain why he | :20:12. | :20:15. | |
wasn't producing a budget before they pull down the Assembly. He | :20:16. | :20:19. | |
refused to come to the committee, he showed contempt for the committee, | :20:20. | :20:23. | |
he wouldn't explain why he wouldn't produce a budget. Because there is | :20:24. | :20:29. | |
no budget, schools are being hit, hospitals are being hit, the health | :20:30. | :20:33. | |
service... I'm hearing on the doors people working in schools and a huge | :20:34. | :20:39. | |
amounts of pressure, you did not produce a budget, your core | :20:40. | :20:43. | |
responsibility at the time. Belfast will give their verdict on you. The | :20:44. | :20:50. | |
reason we have no budget and no executive is the arrogance of the | :20:51. | :20:53. | |
DUP. We have seen more of it tonight and we will stand up to it. Paula | :20:54. | :21:04. | |
Bradshaw. People are saying at the doors that Sinn Fein's slogan about | :21:05. | :21:08. | |
respect and integrity, what about those respect for people lying in | :21:09. | :21:13. | |
hospital beds with no care package? What about special educational needs | :21:14. | :21:16. | |
children who are getting their support cut? What about ?500 million | :21:17. | :21:26. | |
being lost? We had to call it time. You didn't need to bring the | :21:27. | :21:30. | |
Assembly down over it. People will make their decision. Tell you what | :21:31. | :21:34. | |
I'm going to do, let's pause this from Asus -- for a second. I want to | :21:35. | :21:41. | |
bring in column Mackie, the president of the Ulster University | :21:42. | :21:45. | |
students union, making a return appearance on the programme but for | :21:46. | :21:49. | |
a very particular programme. The issue you wanted to tease out really | :21:50. | :21:54. | |
touches on what we've got into a little bit earlier than we were | :21:55. | :21:57. | |
planning to but let's take a point at this stage. I was here before the | :21:58. | :22:06. | |
election and I would ask what was different after the election? Three | :22:07. | :22:09. | |
months on, there's no Assembly so I'd like to ask you as panellists | :22:10. | :22:14. | |
what has changed? What has actually changed three months on? Claire | :22:15. | :22:21. | |
Bailey, what has changed? To a lot of people nothing has changed. An | :22:22. | :22:26. | |
awful lot has changed. We have an executive, parties not getting round | :22:27. | :22:30. | |
the table, and we have Brexit on the table and a lot of the financial | :22:31. | :22:34. | |
woes we were hearing about are largely down to Theresa May and the | :22:35. | :22:39. | |
Tory austerity budget and we still have nobody fighting for investment | :22:40. | :22:43. | |
in Northern Ireland. Politically speaking, we are in a stalemate but | :22:44. | :22:49. | |
I say that as huge change, not good change by anyway or or any stretch | :22:50. | :22:54. | |
of the imagination but the owners needs to be on Westminster and our | :22:55. | :22:58. | |
government bodies from England to be stepping in and helping out, to be | :22:59. | :23:03. | |
standing up to the commitments of the Good Friday Agreement, we need | :23:04. | :23:06. | |
the Secretary of State to walk in, do his duties and help out and we | :23:07. | :23:11. | |
need our finance minister back again. We need our executive back | :23:12. | :23:18. | |
and functioning. We need Northern Ireland's voice heard at Brexit. I | :23:19. | :23:23. | |
think an awful lot has changed in a short space of time. Mairtin O | :23:24. | :23:26. | |
Muilleoir, has a lot changed? He asked the question three months ago | :23:27. | :23:29. | |
and politicians made a lot of promises what was going to change | :23:30. | :23:34. | |
but we didn't get Stormont up and running, the Brexit negotiations | :23:35. | :23:39. | |
haven't advanced. Any change there is is a change for the worse and it | :23:40. | :23:43. | |
won't be solved by are squabbling here. I you embarrassed as a | :23:44. | :23:48. | |
politician? I am somewhat embarrassed. Fortunately, for to | :23:49. | :23:54. | |
have a reason, I haven't been in the Assembly and I can't do much about | :23:55. | :24:00. | |
it rather than -- other than try to alleviate the damage... Plenty of | :24:01. | :24:03. | |
party members in the Assembly. So you're saying they've failed? If | :24:04. | :24:07. | |
you're asking me personally, I'm at Westminster and I try to work and to | :24:08. | :24:16. | |
ensure some of the gaps are filled. Ultimately Westminster has control, | :24:17. | :24:18. | |
has financial control and all the rest. I don't want us to go back to | :24:19. | :24:25. | |
direct rule. I want to see the Good Friday Agreement, the Belfast | :24:26. | :24:29. | |
Agreement implemented in full. And we need Mairtin to know that it was | :24:30. | :24:35. | |
his job to create a budget and he cannot duck the issue is on health, | :24:36. | :24:40. | |
on education and all the rest. I've been around schools, as have others. | :24:41. | :24:45. | |
Why weren't they in the Executive and doing things in the Executive? | :24:46. | :24:50. | |
Don't interrupt me, I didn't interrupt you. The point is he was | :24:51. | :24:57. | |
paid a salary as Minister for Finance, he was in a pivotal | :24:58. | :25:00. | |
position and he failed. He didn't deliver the budget and as a result | :25:01. | :25:04. | |
we have a situation now where the schools are suffering, the health | :25:05. | :25:08. | |
service is suffering and the whole thing is crumbling. Quite honestly, | :25:09. | :25:13. | |
we have to allow our politics to mature. You've accused of failing, | :25:14. | :25:24. | |
let him answer. People have to take responsibility. If you become | :25:25. | :25:27. | |
finance minister, you have to behave like the finance ministers. There | :25:28. | :25:32. | |
must be an election coming up, Mark, because that was a great speech. The | :25:33. | :25:37. | |
SDLP withdrew from the Executive. Which they were perfectly entitled | :25:38. | :25:44. | |
to do. We continued our work. I went to Brussels tries to address 27 | :25:45. | :25:48. | |
ministers. You didn't deliver the budget. Because the government | :25:49. | :25:53. | |
collapsed which is because the SDLP didn't stand up to the DUP. They | :25:54. | :26:00. | |
wouldn't take the battle for equality... Or because of Martin | :26:01. | :26:07. | |
McGuinness? Martin McGuinness expose the scandal. We have seen the | :26:08. | :26:11. | |
arrogance today, the comments of Arlene Foster, Arlene Foster | :26:12. | :26:23. | |
providing cover for others. If they want a government and we want a | :26:24. | :26:27. | |
government dearly and deeply, but you can't have that without respect | :26:28. | :26:31. | |
for everyone and the failure of the DP to provide that respect, shown | :26:32. | :26:36. | |
again in the Brexit vote they took, dark money that they were paid to | :26:37. | :26:41. | |
support Brexit, the rest of us are paying the price. They say they did | :26:42. | :26:45. | |
it within the rules, they've been more than transparent, that is the | :26:46. | :26:50. | |
party's position. Why stand of Martin McGuinness' decision? When | :26:51. | :26:57. | |
the young man says what has changed, we've been back three steps when we | :26:58. | :27:05. | |
know there will never be an Irish language act. Arlene Foster went to | :27:06. | :27:12. | |
the funeral of Martin McGuinness, but then she met... I don't think it | :27:13. | :27:18. | |
was a secret meeting, it was a public meeting. Let's hear from Emma | :27:19. | :27:23. | |
Little Pengelly. I think the panel you've heard from here, the reality | :27:24. | :27:31. | |
of it is that in terms of the diversity of the constituency of | :27:32. | :27:34. | |
South Belfast, but of this is about getting along despite not getting | :27:35. | :27:37. | |
along with each other. What we've heard from Mairtin is he gets along | :27:38. | :27:42. | |
with people who agree with him and he's shown contempt and a lack of | :27:43. | :27:46. | |
respect for those who disagree with him and I genuinely think this | :27:47. | :27:49. | |
constituency needs a unifying force, we need to work together, we need to | :27:50. | :27:55. | |
represent people regardless of their position... Do you think you can | :27:56. | :27:59. | |
represent those people in Belfast? Absolutely. That is the very | :28:00. | :28:04. | |
definition of diversity. It is about people disagreeing but getting | :28:05. | :28:09. | |
along. What would you say for those people who would vote for Mairtin O | :28:10. | :28:13. | |
Muilleoir? I'd talk about the bright side of the road. But he excluded | :28:14. | :28:18. | |
the DUP and Ulster University. The only people on the bright side of | :28:19. | :28:23. | |
the road for Mairtin are people who agree with him. On my bright side of | :28:24. | :28:26. | |
the road, it is diversity right across. Except if you want to get | :28:27. | :28:39. | |
married and you are gay. We are not going to agree with diversity. Are | :28:40. | :28:48. | |
you on the bright side of the road, Michael Henderson? What has changed | :28:49. | :28:55. | |
is the 257,000 outpatients that there were months ago. If anything | :28:56. | :29:07. | |
has changed, it has changed for the worse. It has been at a standstill, | :29:08. | :29:20. | |
schools have lost funding. We, like the other parties, are trying to get | :29:21. | :29:23. | |
it up and running. The two main parties will not agree, and | :29:24. | :29:32. | |
fortunately, -- unfortunately. If you ask any of the other parties, I | :29:33. | :29:37. | |
think they would be in there tomorrow. Education funding is | :29:38. | :29:42. | |
suffering. The education authority have said they have not received any | :29:43. | :29:48. | |
funding difference, they have received the same money, yet they | :29:49. | :29:53. | |
have is just strange the structure -- change the structure of how they | :29:54. | :29:59. | |
are allocating those funds. They were promised a million of extra | :30:00. | :30:04. | |
funding and they never got it. Why our schools suffering of the money | :30:05. | :30:13. | |
is still the same? Paula? I think it was unfortunately -- that the | :30:14. | :30:17. | |
election was called, we were getting down to the details of the Irish | :30:18. | :30:21. | |
language act. Part of the problem was the parties were saying there | :30:22. | :30:24. | |
was no progress being made when there was, and then as soon as the | :30:25. | :30:29. | |
election was called we had to down tools and so very little has | :30:30. | :30:33. | |
happened since then. But I am glad the issue about the UDA was brought | :30:34. | :30:46. | |
up. This I think is your chance to renounce this, and I think if you | :30:47. | :30:52. | |
think you can read last -- and off whole constituency with that as an | :30:53. | :30:55. | |
endorsement the thing you are mistaken. You have been in | :30:56. | :30:58. | |
Government for ten years, there is an up -- and need for a single | :30:59. | :31:03. | |
equality Bill. Why did you not support Alliance last year when | :31:04. | :31:07. | |
recalled for the reform of the petition of concern? These were not | :31:08. | :31:13. | |
issues than? In a crop the campaign for marriage equality... -- the | :31:14. | :31:20. | |
campaign for marriage equality... Different issue, but we stand by | :31:21. | :31:24. | |
equality. We will continue to campaign for equality. I'd like -- I | :31:25. | :31:33. | |
brought to the Executive a proposal to allow me to move forward marriage | :31:34. | :31:40. | |
equality, but the DUP block it. You asked why the blockage, and the | :31:41. | :31:45. | |
blockage is the discriminatory approach of the DUP, the secretary | :31:46. | :31:48. | |
approach, the lack of respect for those who are different. -- | :31:49. | :31:54. | |
sectarian approach. MR, I want you to respond particularly to the point | :31:55. | :32:07. | |
made by Paula Bradshaw. -- Emma. I have said this before, I absolutely | :32:08. | :32:12. | |
do not endorse any violence, all murders throughout the conflict and | :32:13. | :32:16. | |
the Troubles were wrong. Paramilitary organisations should | :32:17. | :32:20. | |
not have had any role here, and they should leave. I have been clear on | :32:21. | :32:25. | |
that, Arlene Foster has been clear on that. I worked on the ground with | :32:26. | :32:30. | |
community organisations right across South Belfast. -- I work. And those | :32:31. | :32:36. | |
organisations share the same values and objective of building a better | :32:37. | :32:39. | |
and brighter future for our community. Do you welcome the | :32:40. | :32:47. | |
endorsement... And I know that Paula has worked for those organisations | :32:48. | :32:53. | |
as well. In terms of the... Sorry if I can answer the question, in terms | :32:54. | :32:59. | |
of the UPI J, they have recommended a vote for myself. -- UPRG. I work | :33:00. | :33:17. | |
the fact that the DUP team -- team's hard work, and if you... The people | :33:18. | :33:23. | |
but your leader met on the Tuesday, Christopher style that, has yet to | :33:24. | :33:34. | |
condemn the murder, so it is the price that the ordinary community is | :33:35. | :33:38. | |
paying, and these organisations need to go away, and the price we pay... | :33:39. | :33:49. | |
The UDA needs to go away. He speaks a lot about respect for women, yet | :33:50. | :33:56. | |
he talks over me constantly. Let's hear the DUP... The DUP has clearly | :33:57. | :34:06. | |
called for the UDA to go away. I want to add to the fact that people | :34:07. | :34:11. | |
out there watching this will be appalled at the hypocrisy of | :34:12. | :34:17. | |
Mairtin. I call on him to condemn the IRA bombing of Manchester, and | :34:18. | :34:20. | |
they are acts of violence right across this country that have caused | :34:21. | :34:28. | |
misery to thousands of people. I wasn't sure at what point I would | :34:29. | :34:31. | |
get to mention your father, who when my father was being discriminating | :34:32. | :34:36. | |
-- discriminated against was bringing guns in this country. In a | :34:37. | :34:45. | |
macro can I say, Mairtin, first of all, sorry, if I can speak... I | :34:46. | :34:54. | |
think it's absolutely appalling for Mairtin to say that, because I think | :34:55. | :34:59. | |
when he goes back to his group meeting of the MLAs of Sinn Fein, | :35:00. | :35:05. | |
and he sees people of his party who have committed horrendous crimes, | :35:06. | :35:11. | |
and how would they feel if their children, who had no responsibility | :35:12. | :35:14. | |
for the actions of their colleagues, had to sit and hear abuse like you | :35:15. | :35:19. | |
have given me? It is a lack of respect, and I am going to call you | :35:20. | :35:24. | |
out on that. I am speak -- stating facts. Emma is lecturing me. I have | :35:25. | :35:32. | |
asked you to condemn the IRA bombing of Manchester. I will not | :35:33. | :35:41. | |
apologise... Absolute lack of respect. If MS had any self-respect, | :35:42. | :35:48. | |
she would not try to lecture people about the terrible conflicts we have | :35:49. | :35:54. | |
been through. -- if Emma had any self-respect. I have always | :35:55. | :35:58. | |
condemned Parliamentary violence. I simply asked you to condemn the IRA | :35:59. | :36:04. | |
bombing of Manchester. -- paramilitary violence. Are you any | :36:05. | :36:12. | |
more positive now, three months on? Seemingly the only thing has changed | :36:13. | :36:17. | |
this time. The issues discussed at the last election special of The | :36:18. | :36:21. | |
View, Brexit, the budget, green and orange issues, every candidate | :36:22. | :36:26. | |
promised the best for the people here, and nothing has been | :36:27. | :36:30. | |
delivered. Thank you very much for the question. I want to move another | :36:31. | :36:36. | |
question. Question from Justin Kouame, | :36:37. | :36:40. | |
chair of NI Community What actions would you put in place | :36:41. | :36:41. | |
to make sure that South Belfast remains a harmonious, | :36:42. | :36:46. | |
multicultural society I think my record over the years has | :36:47. | :37:06. | |
been to do just that, to welcome people like yourself and others from | :37:07. | :37:10. | |
across the world, because for too long island -- Irish people | :37:11. | :37:18. | |
emigrated to other places, and I have worked politically and as a GP | :37:19. | :37:21. | |
to facilitate those people, to make them feel welcome, and I think the | :37:22. | :37:26. | |
two things that are very important to people is that they are | :37:27. | :37:29. | |
integrated fully and provided with good health care and education | :37:30. | :37:34. | |
facilities. And I find as I go along and go around some of the schools in | :37:35. | :37:40. | |
Belfast that the education that is provided by some of the schools is | :37:41. | :37:45. | |
excellent, and equally I think we have to ensure that basically is the | :37:46. | :37:50. | |
health service has big long queues developing, but people coming in | :37:51. | :37:54. | |
here, emigrants coming in, are not at the very back of that too. In | :37:55. | :38:01. | |
that way they will feel integrated, and emigrants in my book or equal to | :38:02. | :38:07. | |
any of us. They should have the same support, and the same servicing and | :38:08. | :38:17. | |
opportunities. Claire, what actions would you take it -- put in place? I | :38:18. | :38:25. | |
am proud that South Belfast is so multicultural. I would like to see | :38:26. | :38:29. | |
put in place and funded and helped to get up and off the ground, a | :38:30. | :38:35. | |
multicultural hub, cited in South Belfast. I think the holy lands | :38:36. | :38:40. | |
would be a great place for that, because it is a good meeting place | :38:41. | :38:44. | |
geographically speaking, very close to the University, and I think we | :38:45. | :38:50. | |
should be doing all we can to have that. The reason that a team of | :38:51. | :38:55. | |
happening is to let all our new communities and people coming to | :38:56. | :39:00. | |
know them they are welcome, but they have other people from other | :39:01. | :39:01. | |
countries We need to ensure the ongoing | :39:02. | :40:21. | |
support of the Executive office and I have given a pledge will provide | :40:22. | :40:27. | |
that. OK, Mairtin. We should take a lead from you, just in. You are a | :40:28. | :40:32. | |
beacon of tolerance, an ambassador for the city. You work for others | :40:33. | :40:38. | |
despite having your own issue is not sorted out. Community is ahead of | :40:39. | :40:45. | |
politics. You know that you can go to an African church service on | :40:46. | :40:50. | |
Sunday, a wedding, the end of Ramadan will be celebrated. And what | :40:51. | :40:56. | |
we need to do is take a lead from the churches in Belfast. We need | :40:57. | :41:04. | |
your lead, and we need you to continue to be a beacon of hope for | :41:05. | :41:11. | |
the city. Michael Henderson. I think the council should get more | :41:12. | :41:15. | |
involved, they have the expertise and technology to integrate people | :41:16. | :41:18. | |
within the society and they have been doing that and it is getting | :41:19. | :41:22. | |
more pathways so people actually know how they integrate. People that | :41:23. | :41:30. | |
put into places are excluded. So how do you get to work with the health | :41:31. | :41:36. | |
service and get involved? In Lisburn, we brought 40 families | :41:37. | :41:41. | |
over, we had the PSNI in, the health service, an open morning when they | :41:42. | :41:45. | |
talked, and they were surprised at how people reacted with the police | :41:46. | :41:48. | |
service because some of the countries they come from, it is a | :41:49. | :41:52. | |
completely different way police talk to them and they found it useful. | :41:53. | :41:56. | |
Information packs. It was how you enter schools, get to know who do | :41:57. | :42:01. | |
you ask the questions of and it is important people are made to feel | :42:02. | :42:05. | |
welcome. The church can take a big part in that. I want to bring Justin | :42:06. | :42:11. | |
in. You fled the Ivory Coast in 2009. Were you made to feel welcome | :42:12. | :42:17. | |
as soon as you arrived in Northern Ireland? Do you feel welcome in the | :42:18. | :42:23. | |
community today? Yes, I do. It is extremely important at this moment | :42:24. | :42:28. | |
because south Belfast is unique in terms of Northern Ireland. And when | :42:29. | :42:33. | |
something happens to minority groups, it is very important that | :42:34. | :42:36. | |
politicians show leadership and speech the same language because at | :42:37. | :42:40. | |
the end of the day the reason why the south Belfast election is | :42:41. | :42:43. | |
important is because of the diversity. If politicians pays their | :42:44. | :42:50. | |
hope on getting elected on their own people, it isn't going to happen. So | :42:51. | :42:54. | |
they need to change the language. They need to come out and show a | :42:55. | :43:00. | |
united front. For us, to send a strong message to minorities. I just | :43:01. | :43:15. | |
want to bring in Darko Majanovic. You are a stallholder, you sell fine | :43:16. | :43:20. | |
breads. You came from Croatia over 20 years ago. Yes, 25 years ago. Do | :43:21. | :43:28. | |
you now feel completely integrated into Northern Ireland society? Yes. | :43:29. | :43:35. | |
How long did it take? Well, very quickly because first I found people | :43:36. | :43:42. | |
very friendly here. Very welcoming. And it didn't take me long to feel | :43:43. | :43:48. | |
welcome and at home. And now you are an expert at making bread, you are | :43:49. | :43:56. | |
better at it than we are. Thank you very much. Emma Little Pengelly, | :43:57. | :44:00. | |
your thoughts on this, do you think this is something we can | :44:01. | :44:04. | |
collectively take some pride in? I thank Justin for his question and | :44:05. | :44:08. | |
I've met with yourself and the groups on very many occasions | :44:09. | :44:10. | |
particularly when I worked in the office the first Minister, working | :44:11. | :44:18. | |
on our good relations strategy and also the racial equality strategy | :44:19. | :44:22. | |
and I understand very well from those years the need for not only | :44:23. | :44:26. | |
local representatives to work together in order to tackle hate or | :44:27. | :44:32. | |
discrimination but also to support people who move into South Belfast. | :44:33. | :44:36. | |
And also the legislation and frameworks required to meet needs. | :44:37. | :44:40. | |
I'd say this comes back to the heart of respect and tolerance. That we | :44:41. | :44:46. | |
are all different, we believe different views, we've had different | :44:47. | :44:49. | |
experiences and this is about respecting each other and where | :44:50. | :44:52. | |
we've been and trying to move forward together and focus on | :44:53. | :44:57. | |
building a fantastic, brighter south Belfast. That's what I want to do. | :44:58. | :45:02. | |
Or we won't agree on everything at all times but it is about trying to | :45:03. | :45:06. | |
come together and getting the best possible deal, the best provision | :45:07. | :45:10. | |
for South Belfast. Thank you very much indeed. | :45:11. | :45:15. | |
Question from Ulster University student Hannah Rooney, | :45:16. | :45:16. | |
Do you feel it's time for abortion legislation | :45:17. | :45:19. | |
Is it time for abortion legislation in Northern Ireland to be reformed? | :45:20. | :45:39. | |
Paula Bradshaw. It is time, for me. I believe women should have control | :45:40. | :45:43. | |
over their rain bodies, over reproductive health. It is time we | :45:44. | :45:48. | |
repealed the offences against the Person act that criminalises women. | :45:49. | :45:52. | |
I think it is time we have our own law here. I don't agree the 67 act | :45:53. | :45:57. | |
would be suitable because what it does is it gives the decision-making | :45:58. | :46:03. | |
over to two doctors and the decision should rest with the woman but I | :46:04. | :46:07. | |
understand this is an emotive issue. As legislators, we have to get the | :46:08. | :46:13. | |
balance right between freedom of and freedom from religion. In this case, | :46:14. | :46:16. | |
we need to make sure the legislation is there and it isn't developed in a | :46:17. | :46:21. | |
vacuum but the women who decide who are facing an unplanned pregnancy, | :46:22. | :46:27. | |
but they decide to keep their child, they are given their support. I am | :46:28. | :46:32. | |
not pro-abortion but I am pro-choice and I think if women want to keep | :46:33. | :46:37. | |
their baby then we need to be there to support them. It is long overdue | :46:38. | :46:40. | |
and it is incredibly embarrassing and wrong we should keep women as | :46:41. | :46:44. | |
second-class citizens in this country. South Belfast is generally | :46:45. | :46:50. | |
seen as probably the most socially progressive constituency in Northern | :46:51. | :46:54. | |
Ireland. Alasdair McDonnell, you're opposed to any change in the | :46:55. | :46:59. | |
abortion legislation, even in cases of rape, incest and feudal | :47:00. | :47:04. | |
abnormality. Are you not out of step with SDLP voters in this | :47:05. | :47:08. | |
constituency? I can only make my own assessment. The SDLP is a pro-life | :47:09. | :47:14. | |
party and I think it defines itself. There is a working group operating | :47:15. | :47:21. | |
on the feudal abnormality is. We know it is reported to ministers. It | :47:22. | :47:25. | |
hasn't published its report by the BBC has seen the report and the BBC | :47:26. | :47:30. | |
has reported that expert working group set up to look into the fatal | :47:31. | :47:35. | |
feudal abnormality issue is recommending legislative change. The | :47:36. | :47:41. | |
point is this - it is a sensitive situation, and I have dealt all my | :47:42. | :47:46. | |
life as a GP, I spent 30 years as a GP, dealing with women with | :47:47. | :47:51. | |
difficult pregnancies, with problem pregnancies, and fatal faecal | :47:52. | :47:55. | |
abnormalities. Every case is different and every case needs | :47:56. | :47:58. | |
sensitivity and empathy. And we need to go into that. What is very clear | :47:59. | :48:05. | |
is that the majority of people in Northern Ireland are not in favour | :48:06. | :48:10. | |
of open abortion and free abortion on demand. Is that correct? Is that | :48:11. | :48:15. | |
what you understand is the case, Claire Bailey? I've no idea what it | :48:16. | :48:20. | |
means but would like to ask Alasdair McDonnell, I'm glad you're | :48:21. | :48:26. | |
acknowledging FFA exists, but if a woman chooses in those circumstances | :48:27. | :48:31. | |
to abort that pregnancy, to terminate, do you feel she should | :48:32. | :48:35. | |
face the threat of life imprisonment? Should the police be | :48:36. | :48:38. | |
called? Should she be put up in court? Should she face a judge? | :48:39. | :48:42. | |
Should she be made a criminal for the rest of her days? Because that | :48:43. | :48:46. | |
is the question, does our reporter in law need reform. It isn't about a | :48:47. | :48:51. | |
personal opinion about what you feel and what you do in a particular | :48:52. | :48:55. | |
circumstance. As legislators do we need to change the law Northern | :48:56. | :49:03. | |
Ireland? I feel we absolutely do and I've long personally campaigned on | :49:04. | :49:06. | |
this issue. Green Party policy is to see the decriminalisation of | :49:07. | :49:09. | |
abortion because it is a health care issue, not a criminal justice issue. | :49:10. | :49:15. | |
Let's come back to this in a minute. In circumstances such as Alasdair | :49:16. | :49:17. | |
McDonnell was speaking about, I'd like to hear what we do with a woman | :49:18. | :49:22. | |
who chooses to make her own choice? Two-week call the police, and sent | :49:23. | :49:30. | |
her to jail? We don't. So, decriminalise abortion is. So change | :49:31. | :49:35. | |
the legislation. I'm saying quite clearly my opinion is we shouldn't | :49:36. | :49:41. | |
criminalise this. In circumstances where women forced into stopping the | :49:42. | :49:49. | |
pregnancy it is the social reasons. In my lifetime I found this service, | :49:50. | :49:54. | |
the health service and the social service are not there to support | :49:55. | :50:00. | |
them. I want to make this point, you describe the SDLP has a pro-life | :50:01. | :50:01. | |
party. An Amnesty International survey | :50:02. | :50:03. | |
of the public in October 2016 found that among SDLP voters, | :50:04. | :50:06. | |
69% support access to abortion in cases of rape, incest | :50:07. | :50:08. | |
and where the foetus will not So you're out of step | :50:09. | :50:10. | |
with your own supporters. I can speak for the Amnesty | :50:11. | :50:23. | |
International... It was widely reported. Talking to members across | :50:24. | :50:30. | |
the country, the SDLP attitude is we should be pro-life. Just a final | :50:31. | :50:35. | |
sentence because we've got a lot of people here. We are totally | :50:36. | :50:40. | |
empathetic and sympathetic to the circumstances that lead to this. To | :50:41. | :50:53. | |
be the criminalise it then? Marion, how would you respond to this? We've | :50:54. | :50:59. | |
made it repeatedly clear and getting weary at this point, they've asked | :51:00. | :51:04. | |
the BBC and politicians to stop using the phrase fatal faecal lab, | :51:05. | :51:07. | |
Latif. The phrase is life limiting condition. I would really appreciate | :51:08. | :51:15. | |
it if you'd consider carefully those women and families who are currently | :51:16. | :51:19. | |
living with a child in the household who has one of these conditions and | :51:20. | :51:25. | |
who are growing up in our society and members of our society. Think | :51:26. | :51:29. | |
carefully about how you phrase that. What we're talking about it is | :51:30. | :51:34. | |
instances where the foetus will not survive outside the wimp. No doctor | :51:35. | :51:38. | |
knows when that will actually happen. No doctor knows for certain. | :51:39. | :51:43. | |
They can make a guess but they won't know for certain. Tracy Harkin who | :51:44. | :51:52. | |
has spoken before, her daughter has a life limiting condition. In | :51:53. | :51:56. | |
November, she celebrated her tenth birthday and is heading towards her | :51:57. | :52:01. | |
11th birthday and hopefully had 12th and 13th and is continuing to | :52:02. | :52:06. | |
grow... Just to pick up on the point, you make a fair point there | :52:07. | :52:11. | |
but would you criminalise a woman who seeks to obtain an abortion in | :52:12. | :52:17. | |
Northern Ireland? The law as it stands holes in a delicate balance | :52:18. | :52:20. | |
the life of a woman and delicate baby. What we in Life NI advocate is | :52:21. | :52:27. | |
for education around FFA. Paula said herself this is a baby were talking | :52:28. | :52:31. | |
about. There's nothing embarrassing about making sure the lives of our | :52:32. | :52:36. | |
unborn babies are protected. Thank you very much indeed. I need to | :52:37. | :52:41. | |
bring in babies who haven't -- people who haven't spoken yet. I | :52:42. | :52:49. | |
think it is time we changed our legislation governing abortion. I | :52:50. | :52:53. | |
don't know where you stand. Anyone who heard the heartbreaking hotel -- | :52:54. | :53:05. | |
stories, would be with me. We heard the dreadful experiences and that | :53:06. | :53:10. | |
moves society. We believe those who have been subject to incest or rape | :53:11. | :53:15. | |
and sexual crimes they should have the choice to have a termination. I | :53:16. | :53:19. | |
know everyone does not agree with that but that is our position. It is | :53:20. | :53:25. | |
compassionate and caring. It isn't as far as Claire Bailey would go but | :53:26. | :53:30. | |
it is a change and a change is overdue. Emma Little Pengelly. We | :53:31. | :53:33. | |
need to have a compassionate approach to this and I recognise in | :53:34. | :53:38. | |
all of these situations there is often very tragic circumstances with | :53:39. | :53:42. | |
pain and I don't want to exacerbate that today by talking in political | :53:43. | :53:46. | |
terms in relation to some of those issues but I am pro-life, I think | :53:47. | :53:50. | |
that is the compassionate approach. We do need reform in terms of the | :53:51. | :53:58. | |
law so across the EU the average in terms of termination of pregnancy is | :53:59. | :54:02. | |
12 weeks. It is facilitated in the UK up to 24 weeks and then used to | :54:03. | :54:08. | |
be a serious discussion about bad. I would ask people there if somebody | :54:09. | :54:16. | |
had or did an abortion before the job's due date and it died, should | :54:17. | :54:21. | |
that woman be criminalised? Is that not an appalling act? The Green | :54:22. | :54:27. | |
Party would facilitate the termination of pregnancy bright up | :54:28. | :54:32. | |
until birth. And I find that regressive. I don't have added | :54:33. | :54:36. | |
progressive policy. We need to be compassionate about these things. | :54:37. | :54:41. | |
Have you ever face those circumstances? If you ever facing | :54:42. | :54:44. | |
those circumstances, come back to me and tell me why had to go through | :54:45. | :54:48. | |
that because there seems to be this notion that a pregnant woman will | :54:49. | :54:52. | |
wake up in the morning, has a scratch and wants to go to the pub | :54:53. | :55:00. | |
tonight. Nobody is saying that. I don't need your personal opinion. | :55:01. | :55:04. | |
And the question is about abortion law reform, do we need it? If you | :55:05. | :55:09. | |
don't feel we need it, you feel we should continue to criminalise women | :55:10. | :55:12. | |
with the threat of life imprisonment. I just want to come | :55:13. | :55:19. | |
back on that. It is rightly in the sphere of political discussion | :55:20. | :55:23. | |
because it is a philosophical discussion, a discussion about when | :55:24. | :55:27. | |
life begins. And that is an important issue. It isn't as | :55:28. | :55:36. | |
simple... Denied access Michael Henderson. I feel we need a | :55:37. | :55:45. | |
change. The constituent came to me, she'd had a baby, she'd been told | :55:46. | :55:48. | |
the baby was going to be born dead but she had to carry the baby and | :55:49. | :55:52. | |
deliver the baby and it was three months. The doctor couldn't abort | :55:53. | :55:59. | |
because the lady was healthy. She suffered in all her family did as | :56:00. | :56:03. | |
well and in circumstances like that individual cases should be decided | :56:04. | :56:07. | |
on and there should be law to back people up. As it stands, we don't | :56:08. | :56:12. | |
have that. I'm going to give a very short response to this. We've heard | :56:13. | :56:17. | |
from the six candidates, what's your response? I'm glad Paula Bradshaw | :56:18. | :56:24. | |
and Claire Bailey are standing up for women in Northern Ireland. We | :56:25. | :56:28. | |
want to drag the policy into the 21st century. Thank you very much | :56:29. | :56:31. | |
indeed for joining us. Thanks asking that question. | :56:32. | :56:34. | |
Harriet Moore-Boyd, who's a stall holder at St George's. | :56:35. | :56:42. | |
My question is very straightforward. We are in an award-winning market | :56:43. | :56:49. | |
with lots of lovely food and products, what would each member of | :56:50. | :56:53. | |
the panelled shoes as a gift for the other members of the panel? What a | :56:54. | :57:00. | |
vast array of choices there are. You have literally ten seconds each, | :57:01. | :57:06. | |
starting with Mairtin O Muilleoir. They have a wonderful chocolatey | :57:07. | :57:11. | |
here, orange chocolate 's and green meant. I'll take a box of the mint. | :57:12. | :57:19. | |
I'm not sure how to answer that. I suppose I would want to give | :57:20. | :57:23. | |
everybody on the panel a book. And I've been around the market and | :57:24. | :57:26. | |
there are some wonderful things here. Perhaps to read about and | :57:27. | :57:32. | |
reflect upon the differences have and how we can overcome that and how | :57:33. | :57:35. | |
can work together because I do think that's what people in Northern | :57:36. | :57:41. | |
Ireland want us to do. Alasdair McDonnell, you are a regular | :57:42. | :57:46. | |
visitor, what would you buy? I am the market's biggest fan and I | :57:47. | :57:49. | |
fought hard to sustain it because there was a time when the council | :57:50. | :57:53. | |
was going to knock it down. I pay tribute to all the traders here... | :57:54. | :57:57. | |
Tell me what you'd buy, stop dodging the question! I'd go to Jim Murdoch | :57:58. | :58:06. | |
and died by them a basket of fruit, part of their five day. I'd buy them | :58:07. | :58:17. | |
forget-me-nots. Well, I've been eyeing up beautiful plants all | :58:18. | :58:20. | |
evening. I'll be back over the weekend to buy myself one. If I had | :58:21. | :58:25. | |
the money, I'd buy them all for everyone. I'd be straight over and | :58:26. | :58:32. | |
I'd buy everybody a nice wine glass to relax for the weekend. It is all | :58:33. | :58:37. | |
made out of beer and wine glasses and they are absolutely fabulous. | :58:38. | :58:41. | |
You did very well, no antiques because they are all stuck in the | :58:42. | :58:45. | |
past! I'm impressed. Thank you for that. | :58:46. | :58:47. | |
That's it from The View for this week. | :58:48. | :58:49. | |
Thanks to Belfast City Council and the stall holders | :58:50. | :58:51. | |
here at St George's Market for hosting us tonight. | :58:52. | :58:53. | |
This time next week, it'll all be over, | :58:54. | :58:55. | |
Before that, though, Sunday Politics is at the usual time | :58:56. | :58:59. | |
For now, though, from everyone at St George's Market, bye bye. | :59:00. | :59:27. | |
This Friday night is the last in the present series of The Blame Game. | :59:28. | :59:35. | |
Joining us is comedy superstar John Bishop. That's The Blame Game: | :59:36. | :59:40. |