Browse content similar to 07/03/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Welcome to Daily Politics from Northern Ireland. Commemorating the | :00:42. | :00:47. | |
past and present, looking at the economic future, just some of the | :00:47. | :00:51. | |
topics up for discussion today. As ever, our political Reporter | :00:51. | :00:56. | |
Stephen Walker joins us in the studio. Looking down the question | :00:56. | :01:01. | |
list, one thing strikes me, there are no local MPs on the list, but | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
that will not stop them leaping in on the back with supplementary | :01:05. | :01:11. | |
questions. Sometimes you get 14 or 15 questioned, we have got 13 down | :01:11. | :01:16. | |
to be discussed. Not one local MP on that list but that doesn't stop | :01:16. | :01:20. | |
our MPs from getting in. As you would expect, a whole range of | :01:20. | :01:25. | |
issues, the question about the Bill of Rights, economy, security | :01:25. | :01:28. | |
situation and an interesting question about the contribution | :01:28. | :01:34. | |
local people make to the armed forces. You feel the Pat Finucane | :01:34. | :01:40. | |
case might come up. It is listed, and it is a subject that comes up | :01:40. | :01:45. | |
in Parliament quite regularly. It comes as this legal review into the | :01:45. | :01:50. | |
murder of Pat Finucane, and Valerie Vaz, a Labour MP, she wants to know | :01:50. | :01:53. | |
what representations the Secretary of State has received from the | :01:53. | :01:59. | |
Finucane family. They still want a full public inquiry. I would expect | :01:59. | :02:05. | |
the SDLP to rise there, possibly the fallen be trying to get a | :02:05. | :02:11. | |
mention. The economy. Just to make it clear to viewers there are | :02:11. | :02:14. | |
various areas of government that are not default and hence decisions | :02:14. | :02:18. | |
are still made at Westminster on our behalf. The economy and tax at | :02:18. | :02:28. | |
:02:28. | :02:28. | ||
all up being one of them. We have been having this ongoing debate. I | :02:28. | :02:38. | |
:02:38. | :02:47. | ||
expect corporation tax will be mentioned. Basically to find out | :02:47. | :02:51. | |
how much it would cost if those tax powers were devolved to Northern | :02:51. | :02:56. | |
Ireland, what that would mean. Critics are saying they are blowing | :02:56. | :03:06. | |
:03:06. | :03:18. | ||
Once this research has been done and the paperwork is put in front | :03:18. | :03:22. | |
of people like the First Minister and then an economic decision will | :03:22. | :03:26. | |
have to be taken and a political decision. The question will be is | :03:26. | :03:30. | |
it worth reducing corporation tax and how much is that going to | :03:30. | :03:36. | |
affect the bloc grant? As I mentioned, commemorating the past | :03:36. | :03:46. | |
:03:46. | :04:02. | ||
is always an agonising problem. have the anniversary of the sinking | :04:02. | :04:12. | |
:04:12. | :04:14. | ||
of the Titanic. We have got the have got the Easter rising, the | :04:14. | :04:19. | |
battle of the Somme. All kinds of anniversaries are upon us. We can't | :04:19. | :04:25. | |
look at these in a piece meal way there must be some joined up | :04:25. | :04:30. | |
thinking involving Belfast and London. Dublin too? Yes, there is a | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
high powered committee that has been set up from the Dail involving | :04:34. | :04:42. | |
one of our local historians, so the Irish Government are getting | :04:42. | :04:46. | |
historians involved. Maybe that is something Stormont and Westminster | :04:46. | :04:52. | |
may want to think about. I expect them to hone in on this subject. | :04:52. | :05:00. | |
Thank you. Now let's cross to the house where I think Owen Paterson | :05:00. | :05:06. | |
is on his feet, the secondary of state. We will work with our | :05:06. | :05:15. | |
partners in the SS -- PSNI and the Irish Government to counter this | :05:15. | :05:19. | |
threat. Thank you for that answer. I welcome the steps that have been | :05:19. | :05:22. | |
take on the reduce the number of terrorist attacks in Northern | :05:22. | :05:27. | |
Ireland. But as my honourable friend said, in his recent | :05:27. | :05:30. | |
ministerial statement, violent activity is still being undertaken | :05:31. | :05:40. | |
:05:41. | :05:45. | ||
by loyalist organisation. What I like to pay tribute to my right | :05:45. | :05:48. | |
Honourable friend who has done a huge amount of work talking to a | :05:48. | :05:52. | |
number of loyalist groups. There is absolutely no place for organised | :05:52. | :05:57. | |
crime or violence in Northern Ireland. I would appeal for | :05:57. | :06:01. | |
everybody to work closely with the PSNI and pursue whatever political | :06:01. | :06:08. | |
gains they have by peaceful democratic means. Does my | :06:08. | :06:12. | |
Honourable Friend share my concerns what would be a high profile year | :06:12. | :06:15. | |
for the United Kingdom and for hollow given the number of Olympic | :06:15. | :06:18. | |
events happening in and around my constituency the thick -- the | :06:18. | :06:24. | |
security threat to Northern Ireland remains severe? He is quite right | :06:24. | :06:30. | |
to draw attention to the Olympics, which presenters with a wonderful | :06:30. | :06:36. | |
opportunity to sell this country. Northern Ireland related terrorism | :06:36. | :06:42. | |
in Great Britain is graded substantial, and I work closely | :06:42. | :06:46. | |
with my Right Honourable Friend the Home Secretary, as will the justice | :06:46. | :06:50. | |
minister on Monday, and we are determined to ensure that they | :06:50. | :06:56. | |
should be no threat to a peaceful and successful Olympics. | :06:56. | :07:01. | |
Secretary of State will be aware of a murder in Londonderry in recent | :07:01. | :07:04. | |
weeks and also the continuing targeting by dissident republicans | :07:04. | :07:08. | |
of a number of people, not just in the border area that across | :07:08. | :07:14. | |
Northern Ireland. Deceit condemn in discussions he has had the | :07:14. | :07:18. | |
necessary resources to deal with this escalating problem are in | :07:18. | :07:26. | |
place? -- does he confirmed. I am grateful for that question. | :07:26. | :07:30. | |
Mentioning this disgusting and deplorable murder I spoke to the | :07:30. | :07:34. | |
Chief Constable this morning, and I would remind the Honourable Member | :07:34. | :07:39. | |
we did agree a special package of �200 million at the request of the | :07:39. | :07:42. | |
chief constable, and he did say in April last year we have the | :07:42. | :07:50. | |
resources, resilience, and we have the commitment. When he recently | :07:50. | :07:55. | |
acquitted those charged with the murder of Tom English Mr Justice | :07:55. | :07:58. | |
Gillen reminded us the use of accomplice evidence is long | :07:58. | :08:02. | |
established and in the words of his Dutchman's, a price worth paying in | :08:02. | :08:07. | |
the interests of protecting the public from major criminality. Will | :08:07. | :08:11. | |
the Secretary of State confirm the relevant provisions of the 2005 | :08:12. | :08:18. | |
serious organised crime Police Act remain available to the PSNI? | :08:18. | :08:22. | |
grateful for that question. I would check the exact details of those | :08:22. | :08:29. | |
provisions and get back to him. Does my Honourable Friend agree it | :08:29. | :08:35. | |
is impossible to engage in dialogue with dissident organisations who | :08:35. | :08:42. | |
showed no signs of announcing their criminal or violent acts? There is | :08:42. | :08:46. | |
absolutely no excuse to pursue political aims by anything other | :08:46. | :08:49. | |
than peaceful democratic means through the Assembly and | :08:49. | :08:53. | |
representation in this Parliament. There are small numbers of groups | :08:53. | :08:57. | |
who do not accept the current settlement and we are determined to | :08:57. | :09:02. | |
bed down on a. Can I say to the Secretary of State we will stand | :09:02. | :09:08. | |
with him in tackling any threat to security in Northern Ireland. In | :09:08. | :09:11. | |
tackling terrorism resources for the police and security services | :09:11. | :09:17. | |
are paramount. Would he agreed that many community and voluntary | :09:17. | :09:20. | |
organisations in Northern Ireland contribute hugely to a peaceful and | :09:20. | :09:26. | |
stable society and can he therefore update the house on progress the | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
funding bids to the European Union so helpful to maintaining that | :09:30. | :09:35. | |
security? I am grateful for his continuous support on these | :09:35. | :09:43. | |
security issues which must remain a bilateral issue. On the community | :09:43. | :09:49. | |
funds and project, I entirely agree with him. What we are putting on | :09:49. | :09:51. | |
security can only contain the problem. The long-term solution is | :09:51. | :09:56. | |
to get deeper into these communities and they did have a | :09:56. | :10:02. | |
meeting with the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to look at | :10:03. | :10:08. | |
potential funds which would look -- come from our existing budgets. | :10:08. | :10:12. | |
I thank the Secretary of State for his response. The financial support | :10:12. | :10:17. | |
for communities currently almost �300 million is crucial to | :10:17. | :10:22. | |
combating paramedic treat activity, maintaining she Curitiba and | :10:22. | :10:29. | |
ensuring we continued to build on piece for the future and can he | :10:29. | :10:37. | |
give it to the aged matter it deserves? -- urgent matter. We talk | :10:37. | :10:41. | |
about this frequently, not just with us best minister but also the | :10:41. | :10:45. | |
justice minister -- with the First Minister. A lot of these projects | :10:45. | :10:52. | |
are in default towns. -- a devolved hands. These projects need to carry | :10:52. | :11:02. | |
:11:02. | :11:07. | ||
on. This government firmly believes in the United Kingdom and that what | :11:07. | :11:11. | |
we can achieve together will also be much more than we can ever do a | :11:11. | :11:16. | |
park. As my Right Honourable Friend the Prime Minister has made clear, | :11:16. | :11:20. | |
we will always back the democratic wishes of the people of Northern | :11:20. | :11:26. | |
Ireland. I am extremely grateful, does my right honourable friend | :11:26. | :11:31. | |
agree the union ensures all partners of the UK can be part of a | :11:31. | :11:38. | |
larger and stronger economy? Honourable Friend is absolutely | :11:38. | :11:44. | |
right. With 2.8% off the UK population Northern Ireland benefit | :11:44. | :11:49. | |
enormously from being part of the United Kingdom. Yesterday we saw a | :11:49. | :11:53. | |
poll conducted by Queen's University showing 82.6% wanted to | :11:53. | :12:00. | |
remain in the UK, and only 17.4% wanted a united Ireland. Does the | :12:00. | :12:05. | |
Secretary of State except there are enormous advantages and benefits | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
for Northern Ireland being part of the United Kingdom, but it is also | :12:09. | :12:12. | |
the case United Kingdom is strengthened and has been | :12:12. | :12:14. | |
strengthened and enriched by the contribution of the people of | :12:14. | :12:17. | |
Northern Ireland and other constituent nations of the United | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
Kingdom as well, not just in the willing and voluntary service of so | :12:21. | :12:27. | |
many generations of Ulster men and women in her Majesty's forces? | :12:27. | :12:33. | |
would entirely endorse his comments. Right across every sphere of | :12:34. | :12:38. | |
national life there are glorious examples, spectacularly in golf | :12:38. | :12:44. | |
this week, where individuals from Northern Ireland had shone. I am | :12:44. | :12:48. | |
very grateful to the Secretary of State's endorsement of the Union | :12:48. | :12:51. | |
with Northern Ireland and he rightly refers to the great | :12:51. | :12:57. | |
sporting success of our golfers and indeed a snigger plays. He referred | :12:57. | :13:04. | |
to the referendum, the opinion poll done by Queen's University, we | :13:04. | :13:08. | |
should over 80% of people wanting to stay within the United Kingdom, | :13:08. | :13:13. | |
so will he confirm out to the House that he has no intention whatsoever | :13:13. | :13:17. | |
of organising any kind of poll in Northern Ireland given the settled | :13:17. | :13:21. | |
position of the people there and the levels of satisfaction with the | :13:21. | :13:26. | |
current constitutional settlement? I think I can reassure the Right | :13:26. | :13:32. | |
Honourable Gentleman. I have the right to call a poll when I feel | :13:32. | :13:36. | |
like it, an obligation to call a poll when there is a clear | :13:37. | :13:40. | |
indication there would be a vote for the united Ireland. As 17.4% | :13:40. | :13:43. | |
and the fact I have hardly had a single phone call, e-mail, letter | :13:43. | :13:48. | |
on this issue, I have no intention of calling a poll at the moment and | :13:48. | :13:51. | |
we should concentrate on the economy and building a shared | :13:51. | :13:57. | |
future, that is the real priority for the people of Northern Ireland. | :13:57. | :14:00. | |
Can my Right Honourable Friend the Secretary of State in addition to | :14:00. | :14:05. | |
what he said about the economy can firm as well as the very many great | :14:05. | :14:12. | |
advantages There are to all parts of the United Kingdom being in the | :14:12. | :14:17. | |
union, he could not be sustained with any different constitutional | :14:17. | :14:23. | |
arrangement regardless of this destination of those problems? | :14:23. | :14:26. | |
chairman of the select committee made a telling point. Public | :14:26. | :14:31. | |
spending per head is currently �10,706 per head, 25% higher than | :14:31. | :14:37. | |
in England. That is the huge advantage of Northern Ireland, it | :14:37. | :14:41. | |
gives us time to rebalance the economy and shows is the absolute | :14:41. | :14:44. | |
key role of the membership the UK place for people in Northern | :14:44. | :14:51. | |
Ireland. For over to the words of the Right Honourable Gentleman from | :14:51. | :14:56. | |
Belfast North, one of the benefits of the United Kingdom as a common | :14:56. | :14:59. | |
defence policy to which men and women in Northern Ireland have | :14:59. | :15:03. | |
contributed greatly, how does the Secretary of State feel on today of | :15:03. | :15:08. | |
all days, about men and women in military personnel being made | :15:08. | :15:18. | |
:15:18. | :15:20. | ||
compulsorily the Dalton -- I'm a supporter of military in | :15:20. | :15:29. | |
Northern Ireland. What I feel is we inherited a complete mess from the | :15:29. | :15:34. | |
Government opposite. We're borrowing �232,000 a minute and | :15:34. | :15:39. | |
sadly difficult decisions have had to be made on this side of the | :15:39. | :15:47. | |
House. No 3. In September my honourable friend the Secretary of | :15:47. | :15:51. | |
State wrote to party leaders suggesting the Assembly taking | :15:51. | :15:55. | |
forward work in this area. We have yet to receive a response. | :15:55. | :16:00. | |
Ministers have continued to discuss with high man rights organisations | :16:00. | :16:05. | |
since then. -- human. The minister will know the establishment of a | :16:05. | :16:08. | |
bill of rights for Northern Ireland is part of the Good Friday | :16:08. | :16:13. | |
agreement and it is a matter for all people. Will he accept he and | :16:13. | :16:18. | |
the Secretary of State have a duty to bring about consensus, rather | :16:18. | :16:23. | |
than simply listen the what people are saying and not do what it is | :16:23. | :16:29. | |
right and prop tore do to get a consensus in Northern Ireland. | :16:29. | :16:33. | |
the House will want to acknowledge the part the honourable gentleman | :16:33. | :16:37. | |
played during the Good Friday agreement. But that was the time he | :16:37. | :16:40. | |
should have pursued it and not squandered the good will he | :16:40. | :16:45. | |
generated at that time. Let me give him three examples of problem. | :16:45. | :16:50. | |
First, we wrote to the first and deputy First Minister, the | :16:50. | :16:59. | |
Secretary of State in September. He has had no reply. Secondly, the | :16:59. | :17:02. | |
minister, the Secretary of State for justice, has writ on the the | :17:02. | :17:05. | |
office of First Minister asking to nominate someone to the commission | :17:05. | :17:10. | |
in March. They have had no reply either. So we do face a problem. | :17:10. | :17:17. | |
There is no lack of consensus and we see no way forward without that. | :17:17. | :17:21. | |
This work moving towards a bill of rights in Northern Ireland may have | :17:21. | :17:25. | |
a useful role to play in the Government's determination to do | :17:25. | :17:30. | |
something about a significant reform of the European court of | :17:30. | :17:34. | |
human rights? Well there is as my honourable friend knows a UK | :17:34. | :17:37. | |
commission being set up to look into this. We want Northern Ireland | :17:37. | :17:43. | |
to be represented on that commission. And equally we believe | :17:43. | :17:46. | |
that commission could provide the necessary vehicle for rights | :17:46. | :17:53. | |
particular to Northern Ireland to be included in. Has the Secretary | :17:53. | :17:58. | |
of State had any meetings or correspondence with other groups | :17:58. | :18:05. | |
who are concerned in a bill of rates, such as churches, advice | :18:05. | :18:11. | |
bureaus or Women's Aid? We meet the church leaders frequently. The | :18:11. | :18:16. | |
Secretary of State and I met with the UN deputy high commissioner for | :18:16. | :18:21. | |
human right and discussed this with her. You can't go much higher than | :18:21. | :18:30. | |
that. As well as corresponding with leaders of political party in naird, | :18:30. | :18:37. | |
I wonder if the minister would say whether the Attorney General | :18:37. | :18:44. | |
believes that Northern Ireland needs a separate bill of rights? | :18:44. | :18:47. | |
Well, he came to Northern Ireland several times in opposition and he | :18:47. | :18:50. | |
always was of the belief, as we are, that any rights particular to | :18:50. | :18:54. | |
Northern Ireland should be tagged on to any UK bill of rights. I | :18:54. | :18:59. | |
should say the honourable lady will be aware this lack of consensus I | :18:59. | :19:06. | |
was alluding to, in a debate in the Assembly last year, member voted by | :19:06. | :19:11. | |
46 to 42 against a motion for a bill of rights. The answer to the | :19:11. | :19:15. | |
question earlier, that is an example of the problem we face. We | :19:15. | :19:19. | |
cannot impose. It has to come from within Northern Ireland and when it | :19:19. | :19:27. | |
does we will respond. No 4. I have not received any representations | :19:27. | :19:34. | |
from the family since the establishment of Pat fin knew can | :19:34. | :19:44. | |
:19:44. | :19:45. | ||
review. The Secretary of state will know the family's solicitors, the | :19:45. | :19:49. | |
Irish Government and the western agreement have called for a public | :19:49. | :19:57. | |
inquiry. Could I urge the Secretary of State to meet with the Finucane | :19:57. | :20:02. | |
familiar Suloy the truth and reconciliation of this murder can | :20:02. | :20:06. | |
be completed? I'm grateful for that question. We have gone over this in | :20:06. | :20:13. | |
some detail. In written statements and in an oral statement a couple | :20:13. | :20:22. | |
of months ago. I wrote to Mrs Finucane and met her in November | :20:22. | :20:27. | |
2010. I established with her that we wanted to get to the truth. And | :20:27. | :20:32. | |
I think the method that we have chosen, a review of the huge | :20:32. | :20:36. | |
archive, that is more extensive than that available to Saville is a | :20:37. | :20:40. | |
quicker way of getting to the truth and will deliver satisfyion to the | :20:40. | :20:47. | |
family. I'm more than happy to meet the family and hope the family will | :20:47. | :20:52. | |
work the review. We need to speed up the exchanges. When does my | :20:52. | :20:58. | |
honourable friend expect to receive sir Des month Da vil is a's final | :20:58. | :21:08. | |
report? Sir Des month Da Silva was asked to report by December this | :21:08. | :21:11. | |
year. When was the Secretary of State made aware that the legal | :21:11. | :21:17. | |
representatives of the Finucane family were indicating they would | :21:17. | :21:23. | |
accept a public inquiry under the 2005 act? Did he inform the Prime | :21:23. | :21:27. | |
Minister of this and who decided to head off that credible option at | :21:27. | :21:33. | |
the pass at the Downing Street meeting? Well we discussed all | :21:33. | :21:39. | |
sorts of options as to how we would arrive at the truth in the fastest | :21:39. | :21:42. | |
possible manner. My public statements are on the record. There | :21:42. | :21:47. | |
is a judicial review process going on. I think the full details will | :21:47. | :21:54. | |
be revealed in that. In dealing with victims' issues such as the | :21:54. | :21:59. | |
Finucane murder is he alarmed in other cases, such as the murder of | :21:59. | :22:05. | |
Tommy English, the police appointed an independent oversight team for | :22:05. | :22:11. | |
the first time ever into a British case of police investigation? | :22:11. | :22:16. | |
Comprising of a political apointee and an English barrister. Does he a | :22:16. | :22:20. | |
I degree that was a reckless act and must never happen again in an | :22:20. | :22:27. | |
independent police investigation? In all these areas we have to be | :22:27. | :22:31. | |
careful to respect the independence in operational matters of the | :22:31. | :22:35. | |
police, the independence of the prosecuting authorities and the | :22:35. | :22:39. | |
independence of the Jew -- judiciary. I would apply those | :22:39. | :22:45. | |
principle to his comments. The case of Pat Finucane is up with of many | :22:45. | :22:49. | |
cases that reflect the legacy of our past. We believe that a | :22:49. | :22:54. | |
comprehensive process is needed to address this. Can the Secretary of | :22:54. | :22:59. | |
State update us as to his diswugs with local party about how to take | :22:59. | :23:04. | |
that forward? I'm grateful for that question. As she knows in our | :23:04. | :23:09. | |
meeting on Monday with her party, I established there is no consensus | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
on this. There are some parties who would like to draw a line in the | :23:12. | :23:18. | |
sand and cease all activity. And there are others that would like an | :23:18. | :23:21. | |
extensive international Legacy Commission. We will continue to | :23:21. | :23:25. | |
work and talk to individuals and to local parties, but at the moment I | :23:25. | :23:32. | |
see no consensus. Question No 5. honourable friend the Secretary of | :23:32. | :23:37. | |
State and I regularly pleat the first t and deputy First Ministers | :23:37. | :23:42. | |
-- meet the first and Depp si First Ministers and I have returned from | :23:42. | :23:45. | |
accompanying the enterprise minister on a trade mission to the | :23:45. | :23:50. | |
gulf states in support of two Northern Ireland businesses. On the | :23:50. | :23:54. | |
eve of the budget wa the need to improve our economy and the | :23:54. | :23:58. | |
opportunity from inward investment, what assessment has my honourable | :23:58. | :24:05. | |
friend made of the co-operation between Invest NI and U KTI? I have | :24:05. | :24:13. | |
made a good one and I sit on the economic committee and UK TI and | :24:14. | :24:19. | |
the devolved administrations, there will p discussion and we have a | :24:19. | :24:25. | |
meeting later on in the year. Despite the best efforts of | :24:25. | :24:27. | |
Northern Ireland Executive, rates of business formation in Northern | :24:27. | :24:32. | |
Ireland are lower than the rest of the U kfpt. What plans does the | :24:32. | :24:36. | |
Government have to make good the gap identified by the Business | :24:36. | :24:42. | |
Secretary that the Government lacks a compelling vision on the economy? | :24:42. | :24:45. | |
Well it is either Northern Ireland questions and I should limit myself | :24:45. | :24:48. | |
to Northern Ireland. We have a clear idea of the economy in | :24:48. | :24:51. | |
Northern Ireland. We believe it needs to be rebalanced there is a | :24:51. | :25:00. | |
meeting today of joint working group to examine the possible | :25:00. | :25:04. | |
devolvement of corporation tax to Northern Ireland. There are too | :25:04. | :25:07. | |
many noisy private conversation taking place. As a matter of | :25:07. | :25:11. | |
courtesy to the people of Northern Ireland it would be good to have | :25:11. | :25:17. | |
some hush. I'm sure the minister will agree that it is always good | :25:17. | :25:22. | |
to welcome inward investment into Northern Ireland. But we must not | :25:22. | :25:26. | |
foreget get the indigenous businesses that have been there for | :25:26. | :25:31. | |
many years, would he welcome a total of �30 million investment in | :25:31. | :25:37. | |
my constituency on one site by the ASDA group in an area that has not | :25:37. | :25:43. | |
saw investment for 35 years. would be good if we could hear the | :25:43. | :25:48. | |
reply. Could the House come to Orde sner Of course I welcome that | :25:48. | :25:53. | |
invest. The member is a champion of business in his constituency and I | :25:53. | :25:58. | |
look forward to send e spending a day with him there. He will be | :25:58. | :26:04. | |
aware of growth fund that will help SMEs with strong potential for | :26:04. | :26:14. | |
:26:14. | :26:14. | ||
growth. We believe these are the right moves. Can the Secretary of | :26:14. | :26:19. | |
State... Report any progress on the devolution of corporation tax | :26:19. | :26:25. | |
responsibility and when can we expect something to happen on that | :26:25. | :26:30. | |
front? As I said, following the address to her Majesty there is a | :26:30. | :26:34. | |
meeting of joint ministerial working group on corporation tax | :26:34. | :26:44. | |
:26:44. | :26:47. | ||
that will be meeting this afternoon. Question 6. With permission, I will | :26:47. | :26:54. | |
answer question 6 and 7 together the Secretary and state of o' - and | :26:54. | :26:58. | |
I meet colleagues in support of Executive's efforts to develop the | :26:58. | :27:01. | |
economy and work on the join ministerial working group on | :27:01. | :27:07. | |
rebalancing the economy, which I will now save say for third time | :27:07. | :27:12. | |
meets today. In the last quarter, manufacturing exports have Northern | :27:12. | :27:17. | |
Ireland have risen. Which is great news for rebalancing the economy. | :27:17. | :27:23. | |
What further steps is the minister taking to ensure that exports | :27:23. | :27:30. | |
increase? Well the point I would like to make is that Northern | :27:30. | :27:37. | |
Ireland sells �12.4 million of manufacturing good abroad and | :27:37. | :27:41. | |
almost recovered to pre-recession level. Those are positive figures | :27:41. | :27:50. | |
on which we seek to build. Investment in R & D is critical to | :27:50. | :27:54. | |
Northern Ireland, just as in Macclesfieldlet will my honourable | :27:54. | :28:00. | |
friend join me in welcoming the Executive's 6% increase in R & D in | :28:00. | :28:06. | |
the last year? Yes I do. R & D is crucial to the development of | :28:06. | :28:13. | |
economy and it increased by of% in Northern Ireland last year to �3 34 | :28:13. | :28:21. | |
million. The minister for xer surprise is keen to -- enterprise | :28:21. | :28:27. | |
is keen to develop this. Given the need to help the economy in | :28:27. | :28:30. | |
Northern Ireland and that the finance ministers met on Monday, | :28:31. | :28:36. | |
can you indicate if the dispute around the 18 billion allocation to | :28:36. | :28:39. | |
Northern Ireland is part of devolution dividend is near | :28:39. | :28:44. | |
resolution and if not wha, are the areas 06 disagreement? Well this | :28:44. | :28:52. | |
was not raised officially at the meeting, although I had my own by | :28:52. | :28:57. | |
bilateral with the finance minister and discussed progress on it. He | :28:57. | :29:03. | |
informed me that progress continues. The Chancellor is in his place and | :29:04. | :29:10. | |
may want to hear what you have said. It is still being discussed. | :29:10. | :29:14. | |
Economic development in Northern Ireland is being held up by the | :29:14. | :29:19. | |
reduck lance of -- reluctance of banks to loan to businesses. Could | :29:20. | :29:23. | |
the minister tell us what discussions has he had to see | :29:23. | :29:26. | |
whether or not banks in Northern Ireland are meeting their Merlin | :29:26. | :29:31. | |
target and why can the figures for Merlin targets be published for | :29:31. | :29:35. | |
Scotland and not for Northern Ireland? The honourable gentleman | :29:35. | :29:41. | |
makes a good point, a point he made in that finance meeting last week, | :29:41. | :29:45. | |
it is a good point. We need to get more lending to companies in | :29:46. | :29:49. | |
Northern Ireland and of course we're fishing in a smaller pool in | :29:49. | :29:53. | |
Northern Ireland, we don't have so many more bank. We want to work | :29:53. | :30:03. | |
:30:03. | :30:06. | ||
together to see how we can get more I would like to pay tribute to do | :30:06. | :30:10. | |
all those from Northern Ireland and all regions of the United Kingdom | :30:10. | :30:15. | |
who served in our armed forces. I speak regularly with ministerial | :30:15. | :30:17. | |
colleagues across Whitehall on matters relating to Northern | :30:17. | :30:21. | |
Ireland, including my Right Honourable Friend, the Secretary | :30:21. | :30:26. | |
for Defence. Does my honourable friend agree much can be lowered | :30:26. | :30:34. | |
from the Royal Irish Regiment which recruits from all sections? He is | :30:34. | :30:39. | |
absolutely spot-on, I am very proud to have been stationed in my | :30:39. | :30:43. | |
constituency. I went to the din on Monday celebrating the capture of | :30:43. | :30:51. | |
the first French eagle. They are a glorious example of an organisation | :30:51. | :30:56. | |
bringing people together from all parts of the community and also | :30:56. | :31:03. | |
from south of the border. Recognising the tremendous | :31:03. | :31:08. | |
sacrifice of our brave soldiers from Northern Ireland contributing | :31:08. | :31:12. | |
to the defence of the United Kingdom, does the Secretary of | :31:12. | :31:15. | |
State acknowledged there is a time bomb of mental health problems | :31:15. | :31:19. | |
facing those returning from the field and what necessary steps will | :31:19. | :31:27. | |
be taken to assist them? I endorse his comments and would | :31:27. | :31:31. | |
pay tribute to the Three reigns of the Royal Irish who lost their | :31:31. | :31:35. | |
lives in Helmand campaign last year. He is absolutely right to draw | :31:35. | :31:40. | |
attention to the mental health problems and those discuss this | :31:40. | :31:42. | |
with my Honourable friends in Cabinet and he should discuss it | :31:42. | :31:46. | |
with local ministers who are responsible for delivering the | :31:46. | :31:54. | |
services in Northern Ireland. That is it from Northern Ireland, | :31:54. | :31:58. | |
we will be going live to the House of Lords from questions from the | :31:58. | :32:02. | |
Prime Minister shortly but Stephen Walker is still with us in the | :32:02. | :32:07. | |
studio. Some stirring tales of soldiers past and present, ending | :32:07. | :32:12. | |
things off. What caught my imagination was this notion that | :32:13. | :32:16. | |
the Secretary of State could call a border poll whenever he wanted to, | :32:16. | :32:21. | |
that emerged in a question. Quite interesting, the question that he | :32:21. | :32:25. | |
has this power to call a border poll. The issue of border poll is | :32:25. | :32:30. | |
often talked about on website, political activists get interested | :32:30. | :32:34. | |
in it, appearing in letters to newspapers and to raise this issue | :32:34. | :32:37. | |
quoting this survey from Queen's University saying it to be said of | :32:37. | :32:41. | |
people in Northern Ireland wanted to stay within the UK. He wanted to | :32:41. | :32:46. | |
know if there were any plans to call aboard a poll and he said he | :32:46. | :32:51. | |
had not received a single phone call or letter so quite clear it is | :32:51. | :32:55. | |
not an issue for him. Interesting he has this power to call whenever | :32:55. | :32:58. | |
he wants. It is and obviously he would want | :32:58. | :33:02. | |
to look at the timing very carefully because as a committed | :33:02. | :33:06. | |
Unionist he would want to Northern Ireland remain in the Union. | :33:06. | :33:10. | |
And the Bill of Rights. This was a question the junior | :33:10. | :33:14. | |
minister had to handle. He said there was no consensus on this | :33:14. | :33:18. | |
issue of the Bill of Rights, a subject that routinely comes up. He | :33:18. | :33:23. |