Browse content similar to 08/03/2018. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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It's all about the money tonight. | 0:00:01 | 0:00:03 | |
Finally, a big budget boost
from the Tory-DUP deal. | 0:00:03 | 0:00:07 | |
But is there a downside? | 0:00:07 | 0:00:09 | |
And, as a judge rules
the decision to block legacy | 0:00:09 | 0:00:11 | |
funding was unlawful,
what happens next? | 0:00:11 | 0:00:13 | |
Welcome to The View. | 0:00:13 | 0:00:21 | |
Tonight, a day for
balancing the books. | 0:00:35 | 0:00:37 | |
The Secretary of State has included
an extra £410 million of the money | 0:00:37 | 0:00:40 | |
from the DUP deal in her budget. | 0:00:40 | 0:00:43 | |
But the pill in that
sugar-coating is a big rise | 0:00:43 | 0:00:45 | |
in domestic rates here. | 0:00:45 | 0:00:47 | |
We'll dive into the numbers
with former Stormont Finance | 0:00:47 | 0:00:50 | |
Minister Mairtin O Muilleor former
Alliance leader David Ford, | 0:00:50 | 0:00:52 | |
and the SDLP's Claire Hanna. | 0:00:52 | 0:00:57 | |
And, talking money, Enda McClafferty
has been looking into party | 0:00:57 | 0:00:59 | |
planning in Ballymena. | 0:00:59 | 0:01:06 | |
The chief executive came back to me
and told me that this was not a DUP | 0:01:06 | 0:01:10 | |
dinner. You wouldn't need to be a
rocket scientist to find out what | 0:01:10 | 0:01:14 | |
this did not was. -- what this is
dinner was. | 0:01:14 | 0:01:20 | |
And, back in Commentators' Corner,
Professor Deirdre Heenan | 0:01:20 | 0:01:22 | |
and Newton Emerson. | 0:01:22 | 0:01:23 | |
Hello. | 0:01:23 | 0:01:24 | |
After considerable uncertainty
as to whether or not it | 0:01:24 | 0:01:27 | |
would even happen today,
the written statement | 0:01:27 | 0:01:28 | |
on the budget finally came
through late this afternoon. | 0:01:28 | 0:01:30 | |
For the second year in a row, it's
been handed down by Westminster - | 0:01:30 | 0:01:34 | |
but this time around,
there was the small matter | 0:01:34 | 0:01:36 | |
of a £400 million boost
from the Tory-DUP deal to add | 0:01:36 | 0:01:38 | |
to the mix. | 0:01:38 | 0:01:40 | |
We'll get reaction from
the politicians in just a moment. | 0:01:40 | 0:01:42 | |
But first, our Business
Correspondent, Julian O'Neill, | 0:01:42 | 0:01:44 | |
has been crunching the numbers,
and he's with me now. | 0:01:44 | 0:01:46 | |
Was it broadly as expected? | 0:01:46 | 0:01:53 | |
I think it was largely speaking,
Mark. The DUP money aside, it feels | 0:01:53 | 0:02:00 | |
very much like last year's budget in
respect of health and education | 0:02:00 | 0:02:06 | |
being prioritised. They get extra
money, and they get an increase | 0:02:06 | 0:02:10 | |
which covers the rise in the rate of
inflation. That's not to say that | 0:02:10 | 0:02:14 | |
they won't feel huge spending
pressures in the course of the next | 0:02:14 | 0:02:19 | |
financial year. Other departments
are less fortunate. They get rises | 0:02:19 | 0:02:23 | |
which don't cover the rate of
inflation, and some actually see a | 0:02:23 | 0:02:28 | |
real terms | 0:02:28 | 0:02:37 | |
freeze in cash allocations, or
indeed a reduction. So, I think we | 0:02:40 | 0:02:42 | |
will not feel much of a difference
compared to previous years. And | 0:02:42 | 0:02:45 | |
certainly I think many of us will
still be driving through potholes in | 0:02:45 | 0:02:48 | |
the course of old working week. We
have had £400 million of extra money | 0:02:48 | 0:02:50 | |
as part of this deal. | 0:02:50 | 0:02:53 | |
Where does the £400 million money | 0:02:53 | 0:02:54 | |
from the Tory-DUP deal fit? | 0:02:54 | 0:02:57 | |
This is new money, even though we
knew it was coming. £20 million of | 0:02:57 | 0:03:02 | |
that game last financial year, but
now we have the arrival of a | 0:03:02 | 0:03:06 | |
significant amount of money, £410
million. Half of it will be used for | 0:03:06 | 0:03:11 | |
infrastructure projects like roads.
There will be £80 million split | 0:03:11 | 0:03:19 | |
between education and hospitals, to
help ease pressures. Now, we were | 0:03:19 | 0:03:24 | |
looking at a fairly bleak financial
situation in December. The word from | 0:03:24 | 0:03:30 | |
the Department of Finance today is
that this DUP money has not made it | 0:03:30 | 0:03:34 | |
quite as bleak, although we are
still very much living in tough | 0:03:34 | 0:03:37 | |
times in terms of public spending.
Given that that's the case, it is | 0:03:37 | 0:03:42 | |
interesting to note that there is
very little by way of revenue | 0:03:42 | 0:03:46 | |
raising in this budget. Yes, the
big, tough decisions, which was | 0:03:46 | 0:03:52 | |
attached out in the scenario by the
Department of Finance before | 0:03:52 | 0:03:55 | |
Christmas. | 0:03:55 | 0:04:04 | |
-- which were sketched out. Things
like reintroducing prescription | 0:04:05 | 0:04:07 | |
charges and higher education fees,
they have not been acted upon. I am | 0:04:07 | 0:04:09 | |
led to believe they will be
revisited in the next financial | 0:04:09 | 0:04:11 | |
year. What we do have this year, a
significant thing aside from the DUP | 0:04:11 | 0:04:15 | |
money, and that is a significant
inflation -- inflation-busting hike, | 0:04:15 | 0:04:20 | |
this is a return of devolution in
2007, the rise in the Stormont | 0:04:20 | 0:04:27 | |
regional rate has always tracked
deflation. This at 4.5% is | 0:04:27 | 0:04:33 | |
significantly above that and goes
well beyond what James Brokenshire | 0:04:33 | 0:04:36 | |
did last year, when he introduced a
regional rate increase of 1.6%. This | 0:04:36 | 0:04:43 | |
is 4.5%. I think the Secretary of
State is putting down something of a | 0:04:43 | 0:04:48 | |
market here, it's symbolic, and
perhaps pointing to next year's | 0:04:48 | 0:04:52 | |
budget, signalling that if there is
no devolution than some other tough | 0:04:52 | 0:04:56 | |
financial decisions may have to be
made in respect of revenue. Here is | 0:04:56 | 0:05:00 | |
an interesting little point to end
on. | 0:05:00 | 0:05:03 | |
You've been told tonight
that there was quite a bit | 0:05:03 | 0:05:05 | |
of manoeuvring behind the scenes
to pull any announcement | 0:05:05 | 0:05:08 | |
about MLAs' pay today. | 0:05:08 | 0:05:09 | |
Which we had been expecting. Make no
bones about it, there was to be an | 0:05:09 | 0:05:14 | |
announcement today about the budget,
but that was also to be accompanied | 0:05:14 | 0:05:18 | |
by a statement from the Secretary of
State in the House of Commons which | 0:05:18 | 0:05:23 | |
would have covered MLA pain. Now, at
the 11th hour, those two events | 0:05:23 | 0:05:28 | |
became detached, and what we got
today was the budget alone. And I'm | 0:05:28 | 0:05:32 | |
led to believe that the reason for
that was to allow the DUP to get | 0:05:32 | 0:05:37 | |
some headlines out of the budget
which weren't going to compete, or | 0:05:37 | 0:05:42 | |
be overshadowed by any announcement
on MLA pay, which will come next | 0:05:42 | 0:05:45 | |
week. Some people might say that
with the Tory-DUP deal delivering | 0:05:45 | 0:05:50 | |
for the DUP today. Well, certainly
it suggests that there was | 0:05:50 | 0:05:57 | |
absolutely no doubt at all that the
initial plan was for the Secretary | 0:05:57 | 0:06:00 | |
of State to make a statement in the
House of Commons today. That did not | 0:06:00 | 0:06:04 | |
happen, and we're hearing it has now
been rescheduled for Monday. Julian, | 0:06:04 | 0:06:10 | |
thank you very much indeed. We may
well come back to you throughout the | 0:06:10 | 0:06:14 | |
course of the programme. | 0:06:14 | 0:06:17 | |
Thanks, Julian. | 0:06:17 | 0:06:18 | |
Let's hear what the
politicians make of it all. | 0:06:18 | 0:06:20 | |
With me are former Finance Minister
Mairtin O Muilleoir, | 0:06:20 | 0:06:23 | |
former Justice Minister David Ford,
and the SDLP's Claire Hanna. | 0:06:23 | 0:06:25 | |
Both the DUP and the Ulster
Unionists declined to take part | 0:06:25 | 0:06:28 | |
in our studio discussion. | 0:06:28 | 0:06:29 | |
Mairtin, let me come to you first of
all. Julian has outlined where the | 0:06:29 | 0:06:33 | |
extra money is going to be spent,
Key infrastructure payments, health | 0:06:33 | 0:06:38 | |
and education. No big changes as far
as revenue raising our concern. How | 0:06:38 | 0:06:42 | |
is that not good news in a difficult
economic climate? It's amazing that | 0:06:42 | 0:06:47 | |
the DUP are not here to defend this.
Why they are not here, it is a tough | 0:06:47 | 0:06:51 | |
budget. Inflation is racing ahead at
3%. Therefore, any increase to any | 0:06:51 | 0:06:58 | |
department needs to be at least 3%
to stand still. Seven departments, | 0:06:58 | 0:07:05 | |
in government, they have a reduction
in their budget going forward. This | 0:07:05 | 0:07:09 | |
is not a budget for growth or
development. You know, when the DUP | 0:07:09 | 0:07:13 | |
said they have this wonderful deal
with the Tories, and the price of | 0:07:13 | 0:07:17 | |
course is that they didn't have
rights to Irish speakers -- the | 0:07:17 | 0:07:22 | |
denial of rights to or is because.
But when they said that they were | 0:07:22 | 0:07:29 | |
getting the additional money, some
of us were naive enough to think it | 0:07:29 | 0:07:32 | |
would be additional money, but they
plugging the gap in the budgets are | 0:07:32 | 0:07:35 | |
still being cut. The wonderful money
from the DUP is now being used to | 0:07:35 | 0:07:40 | |
plug the gaps. That is not how the
DUP with the. Sinn Fein said you | 0:07:40 | 0:07:44 | |
would not accept direct rule at any
price. Here is a budget opposed by | 0:07:44 | 0:07:52 | |
the Secretary of State at
Westminster, an individual act of | 0:07:52 | 0:07:55 | |
direct rule, and there is nothing
you can do about it. I don't think | 0:07:55 | 0:07:58 | |
they with their pretend that the
budget for health is enough, health | 0:07:58 | 0:08:02 | |
needs 6% to stand still. In this
deal, it's still only 2%. This is in | 0:08:02 | 0:08:08 | |
direct rule, but we all
understand... It was an act of | 0:08:08 | 0:08:12 | |
direct rule today. We understand
that public services need to | 0:08:12 | 0:08:16 | |
continue and budgets need to be set.
We are relaxed about that. Fall of | 0:08:16 | 0:08:20 | |
the fuss and sabre rattling that
Sinn Fein was engaged in, at the end | 0:08:20 | 0:08:25 | |
of the day, here is a budget imposed
by a British liquid of state, and | 0:08:25 | 0:08:28 | |
you are compliant. What I will say
is this -- British Secretary of | 0:08:28 | 0:08:32 | |
State. We need the British - Irish
intergovernmental conference to come | 0:08:32 | 0:08:39 | |
together. That is what the
constitution says, we need to bring | 0:08:39 | 0:08:42 | |
back together. There is still no
sign of it. I'm content that the | 0:08:42 | 0:08:45 | |
next step forward in terms of
working through this political | 0:08:45 | 0:08:52 | |
crisis and joint stewardship will be
this conference. Went? The sooner | 0:08:52 | 0:08:57 | |
the better. Well, we can't make
progress without that. So, if the | 0:08:57 | 0:09:02 | |
limbo is to be... But we made
progress today. We can't make | 0:09:02 | 0:09:07 | |
progress on this political film
eight, the denial of rights for the | 0:09:07 | 0:09:11 | |
British - Irish intergovernmental
conference -- this political | 0:09:11 | 0:09:15 | |
stalemate. You of course failed to
set a budget when Sinn Fein help | 0:09:15 | 0:09:20 | |
finance portfolio. Last April, Sammy
Wilson, a former Finance Minister, | 0:09:20 | 0:09:25 | |
called you a political coward for
dodging responsibility as Finance | 0:09:25 | 0:09:29 | |
Minister to present a budget to the
Executive for debate. I'm in the | 0:09:29 | 0:09:34 | |
studio, where is the DUP? The
Finance Minister can't present a | 0:09:34 | 0:09:38 | |
budget to Assembly. We didn't have
an agreement with the Executive | 0:09:38 | 0:09:47 | |
because the Executive collapsed. You
could have brought it to the | 0:09:47 | 0:09:49 | |
Executive table for it to be
discussed? No, the DUP were obsessed | 0:09:49 | 0:09:55 | |
with RHI. We didn't have an
agreement in government. The Finance | 0:09:55 | 0:09:59 | |
Minister cannot present a budget.
That's what the failure is. Why did | 0:09:59 | 0:10:04 | |
government fail? It was a failure of
the DUP. Sammy Wilson says the | 0:10:04 | 0:10:09 | |
reason the Assembly was brought down
by Sinn Fein was your desire to | 0:10:09 | 0:10:17 | |
avoid unpopular decisions. When he
said it was about RHI and | 0:10:17 | 0:10:21 | |
power-sharing, Sammy Wilson should
be here to say it and defend this | 0:10:21 | 0:10:24 | |
tough budget. That's what it is, it
is not a budget for growth and | 0:10:24 | 0:10:28 | |
investment. It will not provide home
for the homeless or solve the | 0:10:28 | 0:10:32 | |
universities places crisis. It was
signed up by the DUP. David Ford, | 0:10:32 | 0:10:39 | |
just Okore Phi one point, but a
budget have been brought to the | 0:10:39 | 0:10:43 | |
Executive table for discussion? --
just one point. The blog without the | 0:10:43 | 0:10:52 | |
agreement of the person is that
under by Defence Minister. The rule | 0:10:52 | 0:10:59 | |
takes about six meetings to get
something onto the order paper. It | 0:10:59 | 0:11:04 | |
would have been tricky? It would.
What do you hope of today's budget | 0:11:04 | 0:11:10 | |
proposals, is at the best we could
have hoped for in difficult | 0:11:10 | 0:11:14 | |
circumstances? There is a real
requirement that we seek strategic | 0:11:14 | 0:11:19 | |
decision-making, issues that are
creating difficulties addressed, | 0:11:19 | 0:11:22 | |
what is about rather than what is
effectively a rolling on budget. | 0:11:22 | 0:11:27 | |
Last year we had a kind of Tory
budget based on DUP and Sinn Fein | 0:11:27 | 0:11:31 | |
ministers failing to make strategic
decisions, this year the Tories have | 0:11:31 | 0:11:35 | |
failed to make strategic decisions
entirely on their own. We have huge | 0:11:35 | 0:11:41 | |
inefficiencies in public services.
The crossover pavilion Evian schools | 0:11:41 | 0:11:46 | |
post-16 -- Effie and schools. There
are a range of issues which simply | 0:11:46 | 0:11:51 | |
aren't being addressed. Until we
address them, we will continue to be | 0:11:51 | 0:11:55 | |
living with trying to play catch up,
trying to make the best of what | 0:11:55 | 0:11:58 | |
we've got as opposed to making
strategic decisions, some of which | 0:11:58 | 0:12:02 | |
will be unpopular in the short-term
but will actually allow long-term | 0:12:02 | 0:12:06 | |
decision-making. What about revenue
raising? That was something which | 0:12:06 | 0:12:11 | |
could have been... Jolyon has talked
us through it, there were various | 0:12:11 | 0:12:16 | |
options for consideration. Apart
from a number of issues of reference | 0:12:16 | 0:12:22 | |
is about revenue raising in that
paper were pretty meaningless in | 0:12:22 | 0:12:27 | |
terms of the value it would have
produced compared to the public | 0:12:27 | 0:12:30 | |
difficulty in getting them through.
For example, getting rid of free | 0:12:30 | 0:12:35 | |
prescriptions sounds good but it
actually brings in very little | 0:12:35 | 0:12:39 | |
revenue. It brings in very little
revenue and a lot of it is taken up | 0:12:39 | 0:12:43 | |
with administering, there are
difficulties. That may be needed as | 0:12:43 | 0:12:47 | |
we look at at well, if we were to
ever implement the reforms to | 0:12:47 | 0:12:51 | |
health, that's the kind of things we
might need to look at. There is also | 0:12:51 | 0:12:55 | |
good deterrent factor of people
taking prescription is too easily, | 0:12:55 | 0:12:58 | |
which has been suggested by some
people. The | 0:12:58 | 0:13:06 | |
people. The reality is, and people
currently don't see value for money | 0:13:06 | 0:13:09 | |
because of the inefficiencies in the
system. Claire Hanna, could it be | 0:13:09 | 0:13:14 | |
worse under the circumstances?
Actually, we haven't seen the | 0:13:14 | 0:13:17 | |
detail, we have a lot more questions
than answers. It was a pretty short | 0:13:17 | 0:13:21 | |
statement. Absolutely, nobody had
the opportunity to ask questions, | 0:13:21 | 0:13:27 | |
the last session of Stormont was
pretty opaque in terms of questions | 0:13:27 | 0:13:31 | |
about the budget, but even Tory
backbenchers are asking about the | 0:13:31 | 0:13:36 | |
lack of opportunity... You had a
briefing earlier in the week was | 0:13:36 | 0:13:39 | |
glad we had a conversation, but as
far as I'm concerned it political | 0:13:39 | 0:13:44 | |
cover it was, as I call it, the kids
tables, the smaller parties, there | 0:13:44 | 0:13:48 | |
is due process even in that. The
bigger parties had conversations. We | 0:13:48 | 0:13:55 | |
had no conversations. This is a
Tory-DUP budget. Did you know what | 0:13:55 | 0:14:00 | |
was going to be in it before the
written statement before the House? | 0:14:00 | 0:14:04 | |
We had the same briefing that every
party received from the finance | 0:14:04 | 0:14:08 | |
officials before Christmas and a
response to the consultation after | 0:14:08 | 0:14:11 | |
Christmas, but we had no say
whatsoever in this, and if we had we | 0:14:11 | 0:14:15 | |
would have been arguing. The bottom
line is, the last day in 14 months | 0:14:15 | 0:14:19 | |
is left, certainly we need a budget,
departments need clarity and how | 0:14:19 | 0:14:23 | |
they are going to spend so they can
spend | 0:14:23 | 0:14:30 | |
spend effectively, we are not
turning Dinos Arpad additional money | 0:14:33 | 0:14:35 | |
but there is no understanding about
who is making the political | 0:14:35 | 0:14:37 | |
decisions. Last year's budget,
whilst it was presented from | 0:14:37 | 0:14:39 | |
Westminster, everybody was clear it
was laid down on the basis of the | 0:14:39 | 0:14:42 | |
budget that the previous Executive
did not issue. Who is making the | 0:14:42 | 0:14:44 | |
decisions? The extra money,
delighted we are to have it, but for | 0:14:44 | 0:14:48 | |
infrastructure, what oil building
and where? £20 million extra for | 0:14:48 | 0:14:53 | |
targeting social need, that could be
spent for almost any department. In | 0:14:53 | 0:15:00 | |
the DUP can say that it has returned
£410 million. It isn't their money, | 0:15:00 | 0:15:06 | |
it is taxpayers money. It is money
the DUP negotiated over and above | 0:15:06 | 0:15:10 | |
other money due to come. That is not
to say the rest of us don't have an | 0:15:10 | 0:15:15 | |
entitlement. Everybody is going to
benefit from that is the case but | 0:15:15 | 0:15:20 | |
the point is people are entitled to
know and it is a breach of the | 0:15:20 | 0:15:24 | |
spirit of power-sharing Gasper that
this is worse than direct rule | 0:15:24 | 0:15:28 | |
because when Sammy Wilson showboat
it on Twitter how he was going to | 0:15:28 | 0:15:32 | |
see Treasury, the Good Friday allows
for traditions, and they have their | 0:15:32 | 0:15:40 | |
fingerprints all over this budget.
Are we all going to benefit or will | 0:15:40 | 0:15:44 | |
this plug some of the short term
issues without actually dealing in | 0:15:44 | 0:15:48 | |
the long term meaningful way with
addressing the problems of public | 0:15:48 | 0:15:53 | |
services in Northern Ireland? We
might get through this year but we | 0:15:53 | 0:15:56 | |
won't get the benefit if we don't
have proper scrutiny as to how the | 0:15:56 | 0:15:59 | |
money is spent, in a strategic way,
as opposed to spending more on | 0:15:59 | 0:16:08 | |
services than we ought to. And a bit
of false eye on the part of Sinn | 0:16:08 | 0:16:14 | |
Fein and yourself today. Whenever
you complain about the 4.5 increase | 0:16:14 | 0:16:19 | |
in domestic rates, you wanted to
portraits up, you wanted to scrap | 0:16:19 | 0:16:26 | |
the cup. I do believe that if we're
going to have increase across the | 0:16:26 | 0:16:33 | |
board, those with the broader
shoulders have to carry more weight. | 0:16:33 | 0:16:37 | |
So today's increase isn't OK? I
believe that increases on the public | 0:16:37 | 0:16:43 | |
should be means tested. The more
money you have, the more you | 0:16:43 | 0:16:47 | |
contribute, it is a basic principle
of fair government. People in big | 0:16:47 | 0:16:52 | |
houses don't is a serious have a lot
of money. We had revenue imposes, | 0:16:52 | 0:17:00 | |
and we make sure those who couldn't
afford didn't pay. 4.5 shouldn't be | 0:17:00 | 0:17:05 | |
across the board. Those struggling
wake-up today knowing inflation is | 0:17:05 | 0:17:10 | |
hitting them and now they have rates
above inflation. Part of the point | 0:17:10 | 0:17:17 | |
is people can understand rates hike
if they know what it is going to do. | 0:17:17 | 0:17:21 | |
This is a ticket overbudget, it is
cut-and-paste and nobody will see | 0:17:21 | 0:17:26 | |
any improvement in their services.
Let's pause this because in the | 0:17:26 | 0:17:31 | |
meantime it was funding for legacy
inquests which was making all the | 0:17:31 | 0:17:35 | |
headlines. | 0:17:35 | 0:17:40 | |
A judge ruled that | 0:17:42 | 0:17:43 | |
Arlene Foster's decision to block
it was "unlawful and flawed". | 0:17:43 | 0:17:46 | |
Sir Paul Girvan said the former
First Minister was wrong to think | 0:17:46 | 0:17:48 | |
she could postpone the decision
until an overall political | 0:17:48 | 0:17:51 | |
agreement on dealing
with the past was reached. | 0:17:51 | 0:17:52 | |
Our Political Editor,
Mark Devenport, asked the DUP's | 0:17:52 | 0:17:54 | |
Sammy Wilson for his reaction
to the verdict. | 0:17:54 | 0:17:56 | |
When we deal with the past, we deal
with it in a fair and balanced way, | 0:17:56 | 0:18:00 | |
and that one particular aspect of
the past is not examined while other | 0:18:00 | 0:18:05 | |
parts of the past or ignored. And
that was... That will remain our | 0:18:05 | 0:18:09 | |
position but I don't want to comment
on the judgment itself. Should the | 0:18:09 | 0:18:13 | |
government heed the government's
advice and release the money now? | 0:18:13 | 0:18:17 | |
That would be a decision for the
government to make. But we will... | 0:18:17 | 0:18:22 | |
We want to see that dealing with the
past, being dealt with in a fairway, | 0:18:22 | 0:18:30 | |
where it isn't seen that in the one
particular aspect of the past is | 0:18:30 | 0:18:33 | |
investigated. We have got a lot of
hurt people in Northern Ireland and | 0:18:33 | 0:18:40 | |
I think they expect to see fairness
and balance in a way in which we do | 0:18:40 | 0:18:44 | |
with the past. Sammy Wilson talking
to us. David Ford, you adjusters | 0:18:44 | 0:18:53 | |
minister at Stormont, what do you
make of this ruling? There is a | 0:18:53 | 0:18:59 | |
certain amount of personal pleasure
that I worked with the lord chief | 0:18:59 | 0:19:05 | |
justice and the DOJ worked hard to
put together a plan which would have | 0:19:05 | 0:19:10 | |
commenced the process of speeding up
legacy inquests. It wouldn't have | 0:19:10 | 0:19:13 | |
dealt with all of them but it was to
get the process under way. I took | 0:19:13 | 0:19:17 | |
that paper to the Executive, Arlene
Foster refused to table it for | 0:19:17 | 0:19:22 | |
political reasons and we now have a
clear decision from the High Court | 0:19:22 | 0:19:27 | |
that was unlawful. That legacy
inquests 's should have been speeded | 0:19:27 | 0:19:30 | |
up by the provision of extra money.
That is what we wanted to do, that | 0:19:30 | 0:19:35 | |
is what the Lord Chief Justice
wanted to do. And it was rejected | 0:19:35 | 0:19:40 | |
for purely political reasons by
Arlene Foster. | 0:19:40 | 0:19:46 | |
Arlene Foster. And the Department is
now request during the provision of | 0:19:46 | 0:19:50 | |
additional funding for legacy
inquests and this can't be postponed | 0:19:50 | 0:19:53 | |
until an outcome to a political
agreement is resolved. Do you think | 0:19:53 | 0:19:56 | |
the government should now go ahead
and release the money? It would | 0:19:56 | 0:20:01 | |
appear the Secretary of State should
release the money. There is also the | 0:20:01 | 0:20:04 | |
issue as to the role of the
Department of Justice in the absence | 0:20:04 | 0:20:08 | |
of a minister. The normal rule was
when ministers had set a direction | 0:20:08 | 0:20:14 | |
of policy, the civil service
continues to work on that. The | 0:20:14 | 0:20:18 | |
direction of policy I said was
absolutely clear that the money | 0:20:18 | 0:20:22 | |
should be provided, should be
requested from the Treasury from the | 0:20:22 | 0:20:26 | |
money promised by David Cameron and
the DOJ should work with the | 0:20:26 | 0:20:31 | |
Judiciary Committee police and other
relevant agencies to speed up the | 0:20:31 | 0:20:34 | |
inquest process. That is something
which is now set, as a ministerial | 0:20:34 | 0:20:40 | |
direction, and which I trust civil
servants will continue through. | 0:20:40 | 0:20:44 | |
Mairtin O Muilleoir, Sammy Wilson
asked about this earlier today and | 0:20:44 | 0:20:46 | |
he says it is up to the government
to release the money or not. That | 0:20:46 | 0:20:51 | |
seems to indicate the DUP would not
object, which is a possible shift in | 0:20:51 | 0:20:55 | |
the party's position. If it is that,
would you welcome such a | 0:20:55 | 0:21:00 | |
development? I think it is
appalling, and you're showing what | 0:21:00 | 0:21:05 | |
the price of this Tory-DUP deal is,
that the Lord Chief Justice who has | 0:21:05 | 0:21:10 | |
vigorously independent, not in the
pocket of any party, he made an | 0:21:10 | 0:21:14 | |
appeal that we resolve this issue
which causes hurt and pain, the | 0:21:14 | 0:21:20 | |
British didn't fulfil their
commitment but today to explain that | 0:21:20 | 0:21:25 | |
away, we have Sammy Wilson on the TV
justifying the unlawful actions of | 0:21:25 | 0:21:32 | |
the former first Minister and the
judgment of the courts. And sitting | 0:21:32 | 0:21:36 | |
in judgment now, almost godlike,
over whether or not people will have | 0:21:36 | 0:21:44 | |
access to the truth. He was
explaining the DUP's position. | 0:21:44 | 0:21:48 | |
Arlene Foster made her position
clear which is she didn't believe | 0:21:48 | 0:21:51 | |
the release of the legacy inquest
funding was balanced. She wanted to | 0:21:51 | 0:21:56 | |
see it as part of a wider package.
This is why it is appalling because | 0:21:56 | 0:22:01 | |
Sammy Wilson didn't explain why
Arlene Foster... Isn't the case Sinn | 0:22:01 | 0:22:05 | |
Fein has reached agreement with the
government to see 35mm is released | 0:22:05 | 0:22:10 | |
over five years? That was meant to
be part of the deal. Doesn't look | 0:22:10 | 0:22:15 | |
like it'll happen any time soon so
should the money be forthcoming | 0:22:15 | 0:22:20 | |
ASAP? Remove the politics from it.
The British government made the | 0:22:20 | 0:22:24 | |
commitment to the Lord Chief
Justice, 35 million over a period of | 0:22:24 | 0:22:28 | |
years, that money should be
released, and we did have an | 0:22:28 | 0:22:32 | |
understanding with the British that
they would make sure that happen. | 0:22:32 | 0:22:35 | |
The deal collapsed because the DUP
could not consummate. Release the | 0:22:35 | 0:22:41 | |
money and remove it from the
political arena entirely. Let people | 0:22:41 | 0:22:45 | |
have their inquest. Do you agree?
Week welcomed the ruling people have | 0:22:45 | 0:22:52 | |
been waiting for. It was
mean-spirited by Arlene Foster to | 0:22:52 | 0:22:56 | |
use it as a bargaining chip. Every
time the government and the two big | 0:22:56 | 0:23:00 | |
parties get into a room, what's
provided for victims is stripped out | 0:23:00 | 0:23:05 | |
and the political will isn't there
and in my mind, they are covering up | 0:23:05 | 0:23:10 | |
for each other. It is a bad taste in
people's mouths. Do you anticipate | 0:23:10 | 0:23:15 | |
developments in? We should have
bitten his arm off if he said he | 0:23:15 | 0:23:21 | |
could have resolved this problem
with £5 million, that money should | 0:23:21 | 0:23:25 | |
be released, and it will build
trust, create virtuous circles... | 0:23:25 | 0:23:29 | |
You have to blame Sinn Fein for
this. Final question... You can't | 0:23:29 | 0:23:34 | |
blame Sinn Fein. Final question, do
you think £35 million over five | 0:23:34 | 0:23:41 | |
years would sort this issue out once
and for all? I suspect it would be | 0:23:41 | 0:23:46 | |
more than 35mm is for all the cost
is associated with inquests. The | 0:23:46 | 0:23:51 | |
important point I put was not that
it was going to resolve the issue | 0:23:51 | 0:23:55 | |
entirely by get the process under
way, it was going to prove the | 0:23:55 | 0:23:58 | |
concept as to how we would proceed
to do the full job. Thanks, folks, | 0:23:58 | 0:24:02 | |
for coming in to join us. | 0:24:02 | 0:24:05 | |
The Local Government Auditor
is to be asked to investigate claims | 0:24:05 | 0:24:08 | |
that £1,500 of rate-payers' money
was used to sponsor | 0:24:08 | 0:24:10 | |
a table at a DUP dinner. | 0:24:10 | 0:24:11 | |
The party may also be asked
to refund the cash paid by Mid | 0:24:11 | 0:24:14 | |
and East Antrim Council. | 0:24:14 | 0:24:15 | |
The DUP has insisted the dinner,
which was attended by the | 0:24:15 | 0:24:18 | |
Environment Secretary Michael Gove
in September, was not | 0:24:18 | 0:24:20 | |
a party fundraiser. | 0:24:20 | 0:24:21 | |
But a letter released under
a Freedom of Information Request, | 0:24:21 | 0:24:23 | |
and seen by the View,
has raised questions | 0:24:23 | 0:24:25 | |
about how the money was paid,
as Enda McClafferty now reports. | 0:24:25 | 0:24:33 | |
He is the MP who just loves to
network. This is my office, this is | 0:24:35 | 0:24:40 | |
where I work. Rubbing shoulders with
ministers. I've a nice view | 0:24:40 | 0:24:47 | |
photographs. I had dinner with
Michael Gove. That happened last | 0:24:47 | 0:24:53 | |
year when the Environment Secretary
joined the MP at dinner in this | 0:24:53 | 0:24:58 | |
hotel at Ballymena. It was billed as
a is this community dinner and | 0:24:58 | 0:25:04 | |
amongst those who sponsor the table
was the local council. Despite | 0:25:04 | 0:25:08 | |
questions raised at the time the DUP
always insisted it was not a party | 0:25:08 | 0:25:12 | |
fundraiser. Does a letter from Ian
Paisley's office to the Council | 0:25:12 | 0:25:17 | |
chief executive released through a
Freedom of information request | 0:25:17 | 0:25:19 | |
suggest otherwise? In it, Ian
Paisley asked the council boss to | 0:25:19 | 0:25:24 | |
make the check for £1500 for a table
payable to the hotel hosting the | 0:25:24 | 0:25:29 | |
dinner. But not to send it there.
And this is where Ian Paisley wanted | 0:25:29 | 0:25:36 | |
the cheque sent, to an address on
Church Street in Ballymena. And it | 0:25:36 | 0:25:42 | |
-- as it turns out it is the DUP
offices. This is the councillor who | 0:25:42 | 0:25:47 | |
obtained the letter through the
Freedom of information request. She | 0:25:47 | 0:25:50 | |
says the K the states this was Ian
Paisley's annual constituency | 0:25:50 | 0:25:55 | |
dinner. I find it very alarming
because we questioned and I | 0:25:55 | 0:25:59 | |
personally question the chief
executive around the details of this | 0:25:59 | 0:26:03 | |
dinner and I seek clarity. They told
me it was not DUP dinner. Here's | 0:26:03 | 0:26:10 | |
what happened she tried to raise it
in the chamber this week. I'm going | 0:26:10 | 0:26:16 | |
to speak, regardless of whether
you'll my microphone. I will speak. | 0:26:16 | 0:26:22 | |
I've correspondence which makes it
clear... Order, order, order! You | 0:26:22 | 0:26:29 | |
cannot speak on the matter.
Unfortunately, my microphone was | 0:26:29 | 0:26:32 | |
switched off. I wanted to see
clarity about what the chief | 0:26:32 | 0:26:37 | |
executive new and what the DUP
what's they knew as well and | 0:26:37 | 0:26:42 | |
following this we will be going to
the local government auditor said | 0:26:42 | 0:26:46 | |
this can be investigated further.
Ian Paisley wasn't up for talking | 0:26:46 | 0:26:49 | |
about that and about here is someone
who was there and who interviewed | 0:26:49 | 0:26:52 | |
the guest speaker. Did it feel like
a DUP fundraiser for him? It didn't | 0:26:52 | 0:26:59 | |
feel that way to me. It wasn't
presented that way to me. It was a | 0:26:59 | 0:27:03 | |
business constituency dinner hosted
by the MP Ian Paisley, something he | 0:27:03 | 0:27:08 | |
does on a regular basis. He was
hosting it. What checks did council | 0:27:08 | 0:27:17 | |
officials make before handing over
that money? Which asked that | 0:27:17 | 0:27:20 | |
question and this was the response. | 0:27:20 | 0:27:22 | |
I don't think the council have
handled this well at will. It has | 0:27:48 | 0:27:52 | |
been very ambiguous. We were told it
was the North Antrim business | 0:27:52 | 0:27:56 | |
community event but it wasn't Ian
Paisley constituency dinner | 0:27:56 | 0:28:00 | |
supported by in Paisley himself. I
think there are big questions. It is | 0:28:00 | 0:28:06 | |
disgraceful the way the ratepayer
and councillors have been treated. | 0:28:06 | 0:28:10 | |
We've suffered massive job losses.
Our rates have been increased by | 0:28:10 | 0:28:15 | |
2.95%. We asked the DUP for a
response to the councillor 's | 0:28:15 | 0:28:19 | |
concerns but they don't reply. Ian
Paisley, though, has since hosted | 0:28:19 | 0:28:25 | |
another dinner, attended this time
by the former minister Priti Patel. | 0:28:25 | 0:28:30 | |
She, too, is now on his wall. But
this time the local council said no | 0:28:30 | 0:28:34 | |
thanks when invited to sponsor a
table. | 0:28:34 | 0:28:38 | |
Enda McClafferty reporting. | 0:28:38 | 0:28:39 | |
Let's hear what tonight's
commentators make of | 0:28:39 | 0:28:40 | |
what we've been discussing. | 0:28:40 | 0:28:41 | |
Deirdre Heenan and Newton
Emerson are with me. | 0:28:41 | 0:28:45 | |
Let's talk about the budget first
bowl. Nugent, any surprises as far | 0:28:45 | 0:28:51 | |
as you're concerned? No, I think
it's a mistake for the other parties | 0:28:51 | 0:28:55 | |
to complain about the budget when
it's really one of the things that | 0:28:55 | 0:28:58 | |
we don't have to complain about. The
real issue this budget reveals is | 0:28:58 | 0:29:03 | |
that the DUP, having screwed up the
best deal on unionism could possibly | 0:29:03 | 0:29:07 | |
have got at Stormont, has retreated
to the Westminster comfort zone for | 0:29:07 | 0:29:11 | |
the duration, and this has given it
a great headline to start that. The | 0:29:11 | 0:29:15 | |
debate | 0:29:15 | 0:29:20 | |
debate that we were having about the
Stormont talks has flipped | 0:29:20 | 0:29:22 | |
immediately around to the budget as
if the catastrophe of the past month | 0:29:22 | 0:29:25 | |
has been forgotten, and now we're
arguing about alleged Tory hostility | 0:29:25 | 0:29:27 | |
and the nit-picking details of
finance, when the real problem is | 0:29:27 | 0:29:30 | |
that this budget is a breach of the
1999 act, it is completely outside | 0:29:30 | 0:29:34 | |
the terms of the Good Friday
Agreement. This is the different | 0:29:34 | 0:29:39 | |
between the two other patch up
budgets. It is unambiguously direct | 0:29:39 | 0:29:43 | |
rule. We have been tipped into this
limbo and nobody seems to care. Did | 0:29:43 | 0:29:47 | |
the DUP not say tonight, we have
delivered an extra £410 million for | 0:29:47 | 0:29:53 | |
everyone in Ireland has blogged it
would be churlish to say, we don't | 0:29:53 | 0:29:57 | |
need money. We need the money. On
the other hand, it flies in the good | 0:29:57 | 0:30:03 | |
face of good government. There is no
accountability, no transparency, no | 0:30:03 | 0:30:08 | |
consultation. We don't know what
this money is going to be spent on. | 0:30:08 | 0:30:12 | |
We are told infrastructure,
education and health. We don't know | 0:30:12 | 0:30:15 | |
where is the political direction for
this. In health, we are told it is | 0:30:15 | 0:30:20 | |
going to implement the report. We
don't have the structures in and | 0:30:20 | 0:30:24 | |
systems in place to implement this.
The civil servants that we have are | 0:30:24 | 0:30:28 | |
risk averse. Listening to the RHI on
it daily basis, they are going to be | 0:30:28 | 0:30:33 | |
more risk averse. The idea that they
are going to lead a programme of | 0:30:33 | 0:30:39 | |
transformation is quite frankly
ridiculous. It will be keep the ship | 0:30:39 | 0:30:43 | |
going, steady the ship, as you work,
keep the show on the road. But we | 0:30:43 | 0:30:46 | |
will not get a programme of
transformation, there is no | 0:30:46 | 0:30:50 | |
strategic direction, and we
absolutely need strategic direction, | 0:30:50 | 0:30:54 | |
particularly in health and
education. They didn't want any | 0:30:54 | 0:30:58 | |
announcement on MLAs' play to take
the gloss off this announcement -- | 0:30:58 | 0:31:02 | |
MLAs' pay. This is the big launch
effectively of their new Westminster | 0:31:02 | 0:31:08 | |
period, as Arlene Foster has
effectively said, Stormont can't | 0:31:08 | 0:31:11 | |
come back this side of Brexit,
really, what it looks like, given | 0:31:11 | 0:31:15 | |
the timetable of these negotiations.
With a Tory deal but can run on | 0:31:15 | 0:31:19 | |
until perhaps the end of the decade,
they are sitting back and thinking, | 0:31:19 | 0:31:23 | |
we'll see what else crops up. They
don't have any other options, they | 0:31:23 | 0:31:26 | |
have walked away from the best
possible outcome they could have | 0:31:26 | 0:31:29 | |
had. They are going to simply sit
back and Westminster, see how they | 0:31:29 | 0:31:33 | |
can operate things from there and
see what they can make of Brexit. | 0:31:33 | 0:31:41 | |
And in the meantime, we have been
left with neither direct rule nor | 0:31:41 | 0:31:44 | |
devolution. And no particular
urgency, it seems, to resolve that | 0:31:44 | 0:31:45 | |
conundrum. For some long as the
confident and supply arrangement | 0:31:45 | 0:31:50 | |
continues at Westminster, the DUP is
in a pretty powerful position and | 0:31:50 | 0:31:53 | |
today proves it. I don't know that
they are in a powerful position. | 0:31:53 | 0:31:57 | |
They are enjoying the position that
they are in, but it could go at any | 0:31:57 | 0:32:01 | |
time, it could be short lived. We
have a fragile Conservative | 0:32:01 | 0:32:04 | |
government. They don't have that
much power leveraged. The | 0:32:04 | 0:32:11 | |
interesting thing is, yes, they have
delivered a budget and the money but | 0:32:11 | 0:32:15 | |
we are still in a political vacuum.
We don't have direct rule devolution | 0:32:15 | 0:32:19 | |
and we have no ministerial
direction. We have nobody there to | 0:32:19 | 0:32:23 | |
make the decisions to spend the
money. Well done them for bringing | 0:32:23 | 0:32:27 | |
the money, but if it can't be
delivered in the way it's needed, so | 0:32:27 | 0:32:30 | |
what. Let's talk about legacy just
to close. You confident that legacy | 0:32:30 | 0:32:36 | |
inquest funding could be | 0:32:36 | 0:32:42 | |
inquest funding could be released
sooner rather than later? Not | 0:32:45 | 0:32:46 | |
necessarily. I think you have to
bear in mind that traditional | 0:32:46 | 0:32:48 | |
reviews are police actions, and
losing a traditional -- judicial | 0:32:48 | 0:32:50 | |
review doesn't mean that you have
broken the law, the Government has | 0:32:50 | 0:32:53 | |
stalled this for decades and
Stormont has ignored judicial review | 0:32:53 | 0:32:55 | |
is completely. He directed them to
look at it again stop your civil | 0:32:55 | 0:33:02 | |
servants are averse to breaking the
law. When Martin O'Neill said that | 0:33:02 | 0:33:07 | |
legacy should not be a political
issue, it is. It is still in the mix | 0:33:07 | 0:33:12 | |
of all the other and soft issues at
Stormont. Deirdre, final. Log one | 0:33:12 | 0:33:17 | |
might hope that this decision may
embolden the Secretary of State. | 0:33:17 | 0:33:24 | |
James Brokenshire talked about
consultation and September last year | 0:33:24 | 0:33:27 | |
and we are still waiting on it. One
may hope that this may give Arlene | 0:33:27 | 0:33:32 | |
Foster the cover to say, I'm going
to move it on and do it so boy | 0:33:32 | 0:33:38 | |
interesting thoughts, thanks both
very much indeed for joining us | 0:33:38 | 0:33:40 | |
tonight. | 0:33:40 | 0:33:41 | |
Thanks, both. | 0:33:41 | 0:33:42 | |
That's it from The View
for this week. | 0:33:42 | 0:33:44 | |
The Sunday Politics is here
at 11:35am on BBC One as usual. | 0:33:44 | 0:33:47 | |
And, as International Women's Day
draws to an end, let's close | 0:33:47 | 0:33:50 | |
with some familiar faces
from the local political world. | 0:33:50 | 0:33:52 | |
Bye-bye. | 0:33:52 | 0:33:59 | |
MUSIC | 0:33:59 | 0:34:04 |