:00:46. > :00:51.On The View tonight: instalment ready for the unofficial
:00:51. > :00:56.opposition? One former minister thinks so. I would personally
:00:56. > :01:04.believe the best thing faster do would be to pull out and be free to
:01:04. > :01:10.be a real opposition. And the professors are with us this
:01:10. > :01:20.evening. And you can, of course, follow the
:01:20. > :01:23.
:01:23. > :01:33.Voters will go to the polls to elect a new MP. They have four
:01:33. > :01:34.
:01:34. > :01:38.candidates to choose from. With the seven days to go, it seemed like
:01:38. > :01:48.the right time to get an insight into the campaign by inviting them
:01:48. > :01:52.
:01:52. > :01:55.ought to take part in a pre- election debate. The production
:01:55. > :02:02.team did invite all four candidates in. They thought they were making
:02:02. > :02:07.good progress. By the end of yesterday, they had agreement from
:02:07. > :02:13.three of the candidates. We were still waiting to hear from the
:02:13. > :02:19.Unionist unity candidate. Late this morning, Nigel and his camp got in
:02:19. > :02:24.touch and declined the invitation. They said, it is a short campaign.
:02:25. > :02:30.Nigel is concentrating his efforts on canvassing in the constituency.
:02:30. > :02:35.They decided not to bring him in. This triggered a response because
:02:35. > :02:42.we had to inform the other parties, and Sinn Fein said they had agreed
:02:42. > :02:47.to a debate which included four candidates. If it didn't, they
:02:47. > :02:52.would pull their us out. Are you surprised that Nigel did not take
:02:53. > :02:59.the opportunity to make his case on TV? Were on the face of it, it
:02:59. > :03:05.looks surprising. When it came up that they had selected this unity
:03:05. > :03:15.candidate, it caused the resignation of two asked the
:03:15. > :03:15.
:03:15. > :03:21.Unionist MLAs. When he handed in his nomination papers, one might
:03:21. > :03:31.have expected a vigorous campaign. That said, I have been hearing from
:03:31. > :03:33.
:03:33. > :03:39.journalists and colleagues that they found him quite allusive, he
:03:39. > :03:45.has been out canvassing, but people have found hard to pin him down.
:03:46. > :03:50.May be, within that context, it is not so surprising. What of the
:03:50. > :03:54.others? You sometimes get this with election debates. If someone thinks
:03:54. > :03:58.they are the frontrunner, they wonder whether they need to get
:03:58. > :04:08.into a debate with the other candidates. Have they got
:04:08. > :04:11.
:04:11. > :04:15.potentially more to lose than when? In may be that that was the kind of
:04:15. > :04:23.calculation they were making, although, Sinn Fein have said to
:04:23. > :04:29.ask that they had agreed only all four should be there.
:04:29. > :04:33.candidates have chosen not to take part in tonight's discussion. Let
:04:33. > :04:39.us talk about two important issue in this campaign with the two
:04:39. > :04:46.candidates to are with us. You have been out and about, campaigning on
:04:46. > :04:53.the streets. The economy, I imagine, is uppermost in people's minds. All
:04:53. > :04:59.can you do to improve people's economic circumstances? I find it
:04:59. > :05:08.truly bizarre that two candidates, aspiring to run for a Westminster
:05:08. > :05:13.election, just don't show up here. I have never heard of abstention is
:05:13. > :05:15.campaigns and! People are saying to me, they find it very strange that
:05:15. > :05:23.candidates are shirking their responsibilities to put their views
:05:23. > :05:28.and policies before the electorate. In the meantime, they would say
:05:28. > :05:32.that they are out campaigning, tried to get as many votes as they
:05:33. > :05:38.can. Let us talk about what people are discussing when you knock doors.
:05:38. > :05:44.Is that the economy? Absolutely. I have been canvassing for eight
:05:44. > :05:48.hours today. Again, the issues coming back at the doors are the
:05:48. > :05:53.future, economy, jobs, particularly for young people, and how
:05:53. > :05:58.politicians can focus their efforts on those priorities. Have you got a
:05:58. > :06:04.real, practical examples of what you think you can deliver for
:06:04. > :06:14.people in Mid Ulster that can make a difference, in very austere
:06:14. > :06:15.
:06:15. > :06:18.times? Absolutely. What people are saying is that in terms of the
:06:18. > :06:24.economy, small businesses and businesses in general are saying,
:06:24. > :06:28.what about corporation tax? Westminster is the place where
:06:28. > :06:35.corporation can be raised. They also saying to us, people are
:06:35. > :06:43.concerned about the averages of the welfare reform, and the grim tax
:06:43. > :06:49.brought in, changes to housing benefit. We have been campaigning
:06:49. > :06:59.hard on those issues. Likewise, the rural community are concerned about
:06:59. > :07:05.
:07:05. > :07:09.a Euro-sceptic plot ways, and single farm payments would all go.
:07:09. > :07:17.You are the Alliance candidate. What a people saying to you about
:07:17. > :07:22.the economy? Again, before I start, but I also find this situation
:07:22. > :07:27.rather unusual. There are five main parties in Northern Ireland, and
:07:27. > :07:32.they are only two are represented here tonight. That is an unusual
:07:32. > :07:39.situation. Democracy is all about given the electric a choice, and
:07:39. > :07:43.that has been narrowed dramatically. -- the electorate. What is your
:07:43. > :07:49.view on economic matters, when you talk to people who will be your
:07:49. > :07:56.constituents if you win? Were I am picking up a many worries. People
:07:56. > :08:00.are worried about how they will fill the tank in these freezing
:08:00. > :08:04.February nights, in the long term, how they will find jobs for their
:08:04. > :08:08.children. I met a lady who was devastated that five of her
:08:08. > :08:18.children have had to lipoma, are living abroad, and she is wondering
:08:18. > :08:21.
:08:21. > :08:25.if she will meet them again. -- have had to leave home. You are
:08:25. > :08:31.running for a Westminster seat. If you were to get elected, you would
:08:31. > :08:37.be a backbench MP with very little authority or power, as far as those
:08:37. > :08:43.local issues in Mid-Ulster are concerned. A in some respects. But
:08:43. > :08:49.big decisions are made in Westminster. Last night, there was
:08:49. > :08:57.a major debate on bedroom tax. MPs were grilling ministers on
:08:57. > :09:03.individual issues. Let us talk about a second issue tonight. A
:09:03. > :09:10.shared future. We have had disharmony on the streets of
:09:10. > :09:15.Northern Ireland. How would you promote a sense of a shared future?
:09:15. > :09:25.People are concerned about the impact on the Flat dispute on the
:09:25. > :09:32.
:09:32. > :09:39.local economy. -- flag. To offer young people a job is a priority.
:09:39. > :09:44.People want to see a stable future, a future where the accommodation of
:09:44. > :09:49.differences is the key buzz word and put into practice. Bringing
:09:49. > :09:56.respect and building trust will be the linchpin and a cornerstone of
:09:56. > :10:02.any future society for us all. That society which brings this about,
:10:02. > :10:07.attracting a thriving economy. party has not been a bystander on
:10:07. > :10:17.this issue. Some would say it played a pivotal role in what
:10:17. > :10:19.
:10:19. > :10:27.happened in flying the Union flag. We took a decision. We did nothing
:10:27. > :10:30.different to what the other parties agreed to at Stormont. That is what
:10:30. > :10:36.so -- that is what is so bizarre about it. The very parties that
:10:37. > :10:42.were protesting actually agreed to it in Stormont. Or would you do to
:10:42. > :10:47.promote a better sense of a shared future in Mid-Ulster? What I'm
:10:47. > :10:53.hearing on the doorstep is that although it seems to be down to an
:10:53. > :10:58.orange-green struggle, that is not really what influences people. They
:10:58. > :11:04.do like the method of a shared future, they see there will be
:11:04. > :11:09.greater stability. That is where the future lies, especially for the
:11:09. > :11:14.young people who don't have the same background. How big a
:11:14. > :11:24.challenge is that for Mid-Ulster? A big struggle. But it is not
:11:24. > :11:31.impossible. Reliance standpoint and publicity has been very clear. --
:11:31. > :11:39.the alliance. A shared future, where we tried to meet each other's
:11:39. > :11:44.aspirations, is there a way forward. A to both of you, this is a big ask
:11:44. > :11:54.for you, in terms of this campaign. Let us take a look at how things
:11:54. > :12:02.
:12:02. > :12:10.panned out in 2010. Your party got 14%, Sinn Fein got 52%. It is an
:12:10. > :12:15.uphill struggle. Do you accept that? Those are the politics of the
:12:15. > :12:21.past. What we are doing is looking to the future. We want to build a
:12:21. > :12:31.society with stability, the future economy and future jobs for our
:12:31. > :12:35.young people. The SDLP is looking ahead to a brighter future. Finally,
:12:35. > :12:41.can you cast itself as anything other than an Ulster man in this
:12:41. > :12:47.race, because it was 1% to got last and? Is it is an uphill struggle,
:12:47. > :12:57.but I will not cast myself as an Ulster man. Alliance is the cross-
:12:57. > :13:05.
:13:05. > :13:08.community Party of Northern Ireland, Under BBC guidelines, Mark
:13:08. > :13:14.Devenport, we are obliged to represent the views of the other
:13:14. > :13:20.party. Francie Molloy has expressed his concern about the economic
:13:20. > :13:28.situation, about scores of families he says he knows off where people
:13:28. > :13:37.have had to leave Mid-Ulster. He is concerned about the loss of skills.
:13:37. > :13:41.One of the ideas he suggests to address these problems is to get
:13:41. > :13:45.support for farmers, and Engineering Training Centre. He
:13:45. > :13:51.says he will campaign to bring jobs and investment, he will lobby for
:13:51. > :13:59.farmers, and a large part of his literature is about the fact that
:13:59. > :14:05.he won't be abstention list. He will be in Westminster when
:14:05. > :14:12.important votes are taking place. And what about the views of a
:14:12. > :14:18.shared future? Certainly flags feature in both lots of literature.
:14:18. > :14:22.Francie Molloy told the News Letter that he wants to allay their fears
:14:22. > :14:31.and build reconciliation. He defended the decision taken by
:14:31. > :14:35.Belfast City Council, the two was a democratic decision and people
:14:35. > :14:39.should respect that. Nigel Lutton said that elections could have
:14:39. > :14:46.consequences within well -- Belfast, and one of the consequences was the
:14:46. > :14:50.removal of the Union flag. But he does say that he will support
:14:50. > :14:54.people regardless of their background if he emerges from the
:14:54. > :15:00.Victor -- from the selection as the victor. And polling day is next
:15:00. > :15:05.Thursday, so potentially, we have an interesting week ahead. Could be.
:15:05. > :15:13.You never know. Maybe somebody else will be able to have captured the
:15:13. > :15:18.attention. Maybe somebody will be able to bring all of the candidates
:15:18. > :15:23.together. Our correspondents will be following them closely. They
:15:23. > :15:27.absolutely world. I should just point out that you can find the
:15:28. > :15:37.full details of the four candidates running in Mid-Ulster on our
:15:38. > :15:43.
:15:43. > :15:51.Still to come on The View: Could Basil McCrea's as yet unnamed
:15:51. > :15:54.Unionist Party learned from down The Former SDLP Minister Brid
:15:54. > :15:57.Rogers has told this programme that her party should leave the
:15:57. > :16:00.Executive because it is not doing enough to bring people together.
:16:00. > :16:03.She says the SDLP should become part of the Opposition. Her
:16:03. > :16:07.comments come as a Westminster committee has begun examining how
:16:07. > :16:17.an official opposition could work here. Here's our political reporter
:16:17. > :16:20.
:16:20. > :16:30.Stephen Walker. THE SPEAKER: Order! Border! Has he
:16:30. > :16:30.
:16:30. > :16:38.got a clue what he would do? Speaker, he has had... The clue is
:16:38. > :16:42.in the title - Prime Minister's Questions. It is a weekly affair,
:16:42. > :16:44.often generating more heat than light, but at least Prime
:16:44. > :16:50.Minister's questions give the voters an indication of what
:16:50. > :16:56.Parliamentary politics is like. To Government defends its position was
:16:56. > :16:59.the abolition seeks to challenge it. The dividing lines are clear.
:16:59. > :17:04.Darren essentially two narratives - one from the Government and one
:17:05. > :17:09.from the opposition. So is it time the Stormont following suit?
:17:09. > :17:15.This week, the Northern Ireland affairs committee came to Stormont
:17:15. > :17:22.to examine that very issue of opposition. What we have here is a
:17:22. > :17:27.blot on the democratic landscape. You expect in North Korea but not
:17:27. > :17:31.in Northern Ireland that he would be banned from having an opposition,
:17:31. > :17:35.and it is shameful. The creation of an official opposition of Stormont
:17:35. > :17:39.would require legislation. The Government in London a examining
:17:39. > :17:43.the political structures here, but say the idea of an opposition isn't
:17:43. > :17:51.on the agenda because there is no political consensus. A position
:17:51. > :17:57.that cut little ice with campaigners for change. Opposition
:17:57. > :18:03.isn't about wrecking Stormont. It is about having a viable, credible
:18:03. > :18:09.alternative structure that holds the Government to account. The UUP
:18:09. > :18:16.and the SDLP insists that they can hold the two parties to account by
:18:16. > :18:20.staying within the Executive. As Agriculture Minister breed Rogers
:18:20. > :18:27.sat round the Executive table, contrary to party policy, she
:18:27. > :18:33.thinks the SDLP's sole Minister should leave the Executive. He is
:18:33. > :18:39.doing a good job, but I think the SDLP should think about pulling out
:18:39. > :18:44.of the Executive, particularly as the Executive has not moved on
:18:44. > :18:50.integration at all. They have neither a policy Nora strategy.
:18:50. > :18:52.you think the SDLP should come out? I do, because they are not
:18:52. > :18:56.fulfilling the function they were meant to fulfil, which was to bring
:18:56. > :19:02.the people of Northern Ireland together to have a policy for that
:19:02. > :19:06.and a strategy for that, and they have neither. And I think for one
:19:06. > :19:11.estimate to turn that around is simply impossible. So you think the
:19:11. > :19:14.party should pull out? A think we would be better to be in real
:19:14. > :19:20.opposition. I don't think it would be an official opposition, but it
:19:20. > :19:23.would give us the freedom to become in a sense a real opposition.
:19:23. > :19:29.First Minister, Peter Robinson, favours the creation of an
:19:29. > :19:32.opposition, but he says there is already an unofficial one in place.
:19:32. > :19:41.We have run a very strong opposition. We have a well-informed
:19:41. > :19:51.opposition. The two smaller parties have tended to act as if they were
:19:51. > :19:52.
:19:52. > :19:56.an opposition, so we have Ministers in opposition as part of our system.
:19:56. > :20:00.The DUP and the UUP favour an opposition, as do the Alliance
:20:00. > :20:05.Party. Sinn Fein have concerns, and insist that the principles of the
:20:05. > :20:11.Good Friday Agreement are protected. That could greater scrutiny be
:20:11. > :20:14.achieved without diluting the concept of power sharing? You can
:20:14. > :20:19.look at the issue of opposition and Stormont in a way that doesn't
:20:19. > :20:23.necessarily mean you have to up start looking at either Good Friday
:20:23. > :20:27.Agreement or the St Andrews Agreement. So rather than adopting
:20:27. > :20:32.the full Westminster model of opposition, could other practices
:20:32. > :20:34.that I used in London be implemented at Stormont? In the
:20:34. > :20:37.Public Accounts Committee, the chair of that committee is always
:20:37. > :20:43.taken up by the Leader of the Opposition, the main opposition
:20:43. > :20:48.party. That might be one thing to look at, to look at the way that
:20:48. > :20:53.the chairs of the difference select committees are allocated. But one
:20:53. > :20:57.thing to do might be to think about opposition in that broader sense,
:20:57. > :21:03.and to use a committee like the public accounts committee to allow
:21:04. > :21:07.one of those smaller parties to take on an influential role.
:21:07. > :21:10.change is unlikely to satisfy those calling for the creation of four
:21:10. > :21:14.opposition. Basil McCrea and John McCallister have made that a
:21:14. > :21:19.central piece of their new party, and there is talk of a Private
:21:19. > :21:24.Member's Bill. But change can only come if there is a consensus, and
:21:24. > :21:32.at Stormont, that is in short supply.
:21:32. > :21:42.Stephen Walker supporting -- reporting. Deidre Heenan and Rick
:21:42. > :21:51.Welford are here to talk about this. Rick, is the proposal a runner?
:21:51. > :21:57.is. She is one of a growing chorus of voices calling for an opposition.
:21:57. > :22:05.The committee is looking at the provision of an official opposition
:22:05. > :22:10.as one of a number of potential reforms. It is easy enough to say,
:22:10. > :22:15.go into opposition, but there is no formal provision for it. They would
:22:15. > :22:19.need speaking rights. They would need committee places. They would
:22:19. > :22:22.need, among other things, the capacity to bring about a vote of
:22:22. > :22:29.no confidence in the actual Executive. There isn't provision
:22:29. > :22:33.for any of those things. Nor indeed for supply days when opposition
:22:33. > :22:36.parties can determine the topic for debate. So if you're going to be
:22:36. > :22:41.part of the chorus who want the opposition, you need to look at
:22:41. > :22:46.what we need to provide, and provide some finance to fund an
:22:46. > :22:56.official opposition, which might not go down well with the Electra -
:22:56. > :22:56.
:22:56. > :23:03.- electorate. His is an argument worth making? I take Rick's., but
:23:03. > :23:08.use 15 years since the Good Friday Agreement. -- I take Rick's point.
:23:08. > :23:11.Trying to get policy through now seems to be impossible, and we have
:23:11. > :23:16.a bizarre situation where you have Ministers and government putting
:23:16. > :23:21.forward one idea and then the next day criticising at their colleagues
:23:21. > :23:30.who are also in government. It seems strange that they are leaning
:23:30. > :23:34.between two policy ideas. As think it is important that we say, we
:23:34. > :23:39.have and in again, out again government, and they think it is
:23:39. > :23:44.important to say, here is the Government, here is the opposition,
:23:44. > :23:52.and it could be a sign of political maturity to say, the Friday
:23:52. > :23:56.Agreement work, or is it time to move on? Rick, let's talk about
:23:56. > :24:04.Mid-Ulster. A week to polling. We had a television debate tonight.
:24:05. > :24:12.Tea Party candidates here, two candidates missing. Half the
:24:12. > :24:18.debate! Were you surprised that the two parties who didn't come were
:24:18. > :24:25.missing? It is extraordinary, not least because in this circumstance
:24:25. > :24:29.you have a candidate in the shape of Nigel Lutton who is a unionist
:24:29. > :24:34.unity candidate, and it is presented as being such a signal
:24:34. > :24:40.moment in the development of unity, that people would actually sees the
:24:40. > :24:45.opportunity to make that pitch for Unionist unity, particularly given
:24:45. > :24:55.the nature of one of his key opponents, the other no show
:24:55. > :25:00.tonight, Francie Molloy. You seeking here, you seek him there.
:25:00. > :25:06.They are like the Pimpernel. Thank you, let's move on to another
:25:06. > :25:09.subject. Earlier this week, Basil McCrea and John McCallister scotch
:25:09. > :25:13.any speculation that they would join another existing party by
:25:13. > :25:17.announcing plans to form their own. The pair said they new party will
:25:17. > :25:24.be confident, progressive and pro- union. One thing they don't have,
:25:24. > :25:34.though, is a name. We went out onto the streets to ask if the name it
:25:34. > :25:34.
:25:34. > :25:37.It is very hard to make that call until you know what the name is. I
:25:37. > :25:42.appreciate the ambitions of the party, and they think they will
:25:42. > :25:49.have a wide appeal. But time will tell in terms of what Nene come up
:25:49. > :25:53.with. There is only one name her that they want to come up with.
:25:53. > :25:59.you have the right personalities, you would go to them. I don't think
:25:59. > :26:09.it would matter what banner they go under. It would have to be
:26:09. > :26:10.
:26:10. > :26:17.something significant, rather than just the same old. You would get
:26:17. > :26:24.mixed up. You really do, there is an awful lot of them. The name
:26:24. > :26:32.would and and her -- wouldn't entice me. It is the politicians to
:26:32. > :26:42.have to change. And Australia, you have a family party at the sex
:26:42. > :26:45.party. And yes, before you ask, it does exist, and it got 8% in the
:26:45. > :26:53.state election in Victoria last year, although it might be a while
:26:53. > :27:03.before the arrears a similar party here, and less Basil and John
:27:03. > :27:09.
:27:10. > :27:19.gopher that name! -- and Les Basil We took a poll here, and
:27:20. > :27:20.
:27:20. > :27:28.suggestions were at the Labour Deans,. The debate has kept us all
:27:28. > :27:31.glued to the television, and if you don't mind me saying the fact that
:27:31. > :27:39.Lord Rennard appears to have been somewhat liberal with his
:27:39. > :27:43.intentions. That is the allegation. He denies it. But it has very
:27:43. > :27:49.quickly become a story about Nick Clegg's leadership or lack of it,
:27:49. > :27:55.and it has been interesting how much the spotlight has turned to
:27:56. > :28:01.him, and his female party colleagues have not, to support him,
:28:01. > :28:06.so that says a lot. It right, your story of the week? The riff-raff
:28:06. > :28:10.man, Boris Johnson, and his attempt to speak to the Greater London
:28:10. > :28:20.Assembly. Do we have a Kip? Wishes to be exchanging question. Classic
:28:20. > :28:29.Boris. Are you saying they haven't the guts to put questions to me it?
:28:29. > :28:34.Great, supine critter plasmid invertebrate jellies. Great quote.
:28:34. > :28:41.You don't hear anything like that up at Stormont. We are more
:28:41. > :28:45.monosyllabic here. He is a wordsmith. But he did meet his
:28:45. > :28:49.comeuppance that day, because he was in effect voted off the
:28:49. > :28:57.platform by a coalition of Liberal Democrats, Labour and green
:28:57. > :29:05.candidates representing the GLA. Twit of the week? Chris Bryant. Did
:29:05. > :29:09.I miss something? Wasn't the whole point off Osborne's economics to
:29:09. > :29:14.point off Osborne's economics to keep the triple-A rating? The Tory
:29:14. > :29:24.MEP on the Italian election - a surprising number of Italians have
:29:24. > :29:25.
:29:25. > :29:34.voted for a comedian. The comedian to whom it he is furring is