06/11/2011 Social Democratic and Labour Party Conference

Good evening and welcome to our coverage of the SDLP's conference.

It has been an eventful gathering the party was meeting to elect a

new leader to replace Margaret Ritchie. The result was a surprise

to some, and a foregone conclusion to others. Yesterday Alasdair

McDonnell a emerged as the man to steer the helm of a ship that has

had its fair share of rough seas. He vowed to restructure the party

and challenge the DUP and Sinn Fein, who he accused of acting like baif

lives for the Treasury. Today he gave his first speech as leader. It

didn't go smoothly as he paused to complain about the lighting in the

hall. Before that what is the mood hall. Before that what is the mood

of the party as it elects a new leader? Our reporter has been

Apparently there is a major event happening in Belfast this weekend.

It involves big names competing for the top prize. There have been

permty clashes and probably some diva-like behaviour. The MTV awards

aren't the only show in town. There is also the SDLP conference with

the added attraction of the leadership election. Following the

foot step of a political giant is hard. Mark Durkan was groomed for

the role, but saw the party's fortunes decline. Margaret Ritchie

preside over further slippage. was confrontsed with a major well

election of which I was part and also not -- Westminster of which I

was part and three elections this year. So there is now that space,

that opportunity of three years for that development of ideas. Margaret

Ritchie learned her politics at the side of Eddie McGrady, and his

passion for the party is undiminished. This recovery that we

talk about the rezaebing party, -- re-establishing the party, I have

no time for that. I want it to move into the future. Not replicate a

different era and different circumstances. I think we have a

clean sheet out there and we can paint what we like on it. Tommy

Gallagher was a victim of the party's fortunes. But he is still

clean to influence policy. My own view is that we should now be

thinking seriously about going into opposition. But that is a big

decision and it will be, it will involve the views of more people

than myself. But at the moment, now whether we wait for a review of the

Good Friday agreement and look at the landscape then or not, I am not

sure about the timing of it. Sean and Patricia Farren competed for

selling books. The former Stormont minister said he will need to write

a seek Well. I have come here and maybe maybe 50% of the delegates I

don't know on a personal basis. A reverse of the situation ten years

ago when I would have known everyone who would come to such a

conference. That must be an indication of the fact that there

is new life coming into the party. Bridging the gap between one

generation and the next, these young SDLP representatives are

regarded as the future of the party. Taking a break from the conference

at a beauty spot, they shared their vision. I have a few years to

regroup, reorganise, think about the direction we want to go in and

kind of the new project. I know and believe that we have the right

answers and policies that will deliver a credible jobs plan, a

credible way out of economic mess that we're N a leadership election

isn't necessarily an unhealthy thing it has put us back in the

spotlight again. And for too long we have been out of it. Squeezed

out of it by this kind of big two type politics. I saw the passion to

lead a party we care about. We look forward and move forward as one

party. And this is the man who will car tkwri hopes of SDLP members

young and hold. Alasdair McDonnell has pledged to stoke the party's

fire and he will have to unite its different wings and reverse the

decline A tough job for a man regarded by his supporters as his

opponents a as tough politician. The SDLP leader is with us now.

Thank you for joining us. The speech didn't go as you planned

today. Tell us what happened. simply I was blinded every time I

looked up at the hall, I was blinded by lights. That is

unfortunate, but that is what happened. It distracted me from the

very, what I thought was a powerful speech that I spent a lot of time

putting together the technicalitys are not as important as the content

of the speech. It will make the headlines. It doesn't deserve that.

What is your unique selling point as leader? Well there are a number

of points, I'm intent and organisally putting the party back

on a robust footing. I will do that because I will reach out to

colleagues, my rivals for this leadership, but will reach out to a

broader selection and include them in team SDLP going forward.

talk about reorganisation, how does that play out. You need policies to

go alongside that and strong policies. We have been identified

for 40 years with the strongest policies in town. We still have

those. And we still have the vision to implement them. The problem we

have is that we have allowed ourselves to be pushed aside by the

big guns in Stormont and yet the big guns are not able to deliver

all they're doing is, they have done a carve up between themselves,

rather than any sort of power sharing. The agreement that was

reached in 98 was an agreed to be - - agreement to be inclue -- an

agreement to be inclusive. They have created a shell situation and

whereby they carve up what is left of the pow. But it is themselves

alone. There is no movement and no space to go forward. You talked

about the Good Friday agreement reaching the end of the road in

your speech. What do you mean by that? The agreement of itself will

never reach the end of the road, it lays a clear foundation. Because of

it being abused by Sinn Fein and the DUP for their own ends,

effectively they have blown up the road ahead and stopped us moving

forward. The agreement had the potential and still does have the

potential, to create space to create progress. We're not moving

fore ward politically, we're in a space where we have brought about

peace and stability, we have stopped the killing and mayhem and

brought about that stability. But that stability is almost a

gridlocked one. You're not appealing to the voters. You say

those things, but the voters are not coming to you. Sorry I am

appealing to voters. Because I'm intent on putting out a whole new

team of SDLP people. I will be recruiting within weeks a team of

people to fill the slots and the kpwaps that emerged -- gaps that

emerged in the last council elections. Mr Place where we

allowed seats to sleep. -- places where we allowed seats to slip. I

will be bringing in young people and giving young people a role and

responsibility within the party at local level. What about your team

at Stormont, what changes are you going to make? Is Alex Attwood safe

as a minister? He's good minister and a valued colleague. The fact we

contest the leadership election, if anything rather than dividing us,

brought us closer together. I can say that about all four of us in

the contest. It was not so much a question of having a lot of

different views, but we were grinding at the same issues and

problems and we have come up broadly with a rot lot of conses

sus -- lot of consensus. Will he stay as environment minister?

think Alec is a good minister and every admiration for him and I will

discuss with him and others who we take the party forward and what is

in the best interests of the party, because this election, the one

thing I did in this election was, I moved the debate from it being a

beauty contest between four individuals, to a discussion about

the serious future of the party and not just about the party for its

own sake, but thousand party could be brought to deliver, deliver for

the people on the ground. Because we're getting hammered and we have

Treasury cut and all we have is the DUP and Sinn Fein like Afghan

warlords dividing up the spoils. All their doing is implementing

cuts. The reshry is a I mying cuts. -- the Treasury is imPleming cuts.

Where do you zands on corporation tax? I'm in favour of it. The

difficulty is some of government ministers are not. They're half in,

half out. We have got to do like Alex Salmond has done in scanned.

And assert a degree of autonomy and utilise the space created by

devolution to do things differently. For us to create solutions to our

own problems and those solutions are different from the solutions

for the south-east of England. do have a different system, you're

looking towards the ends of the Good Friday agreement? No, I'm

saying it has run out of road. what do you suggest we do? Do you

go into opposition? I suggest we build a new road and start building

roads. Start creating space, because the Good Friday agreement

was designed and a lot of work went into it, to ensure that it could be

added on to and built on to. But my argument earlier was that the DUP

and Sinn Fein have shot it down. They have almost blown up the

roadway. Would you go into opposition? Well opposition is not

a station that was defined in that atkpreement. The agreement was

defined and the act that brought it into being was defining an

inclusive system for all parties. And provided they get the minimum

whatever it is seats. That opposition, there is no defined

place called opposition. It has to be considered. Because if they go

on doing what they're doing, there is no point of us. Taking

responsibility for their mistakes. But getting no credit for the

benefits. We're there and I emphasise this and will do again, I

see the SDLP being there to fights for social justice. To fight for

decency and for the power and to fight against the savage cuts to

welfare and other aspects of people's existence here. So we have

got to fight for that and if the Executive is not fighting for that,

well we have to find ways to find for it. What is your role now in

terms of double jobing, you have these different hats. Will you step

down as MP. I will be wherever I'm needed. People on the street aren't

happy about double jobing. Well maybe. I haven't heard it. I stood

for election last May and they were happen groi vote for me. I see

people -- happy to vote for me. Some people are MPs and MLAs and

ministers. It is not quite the issue it is made out to be. I will

look at that and in the party's and the public interest and do whatever

is appropriate. But this weekend it is has been a hectic 24 hours, and

I need a bit of time to think and a bit of time to take stock and look

at how we go fore ward. But in going forwards, I will be putting

the public interest first and the party interest second and I will

move the SDLP into a position where it will be able to deliver more and

that I will, that will entail doing what is necessary and whatever

arguments there are with the two parties, the DUP and Sinn Fein.

Thank you for joining us. There was a debate over a wide range of

subjects during the conference and it would be fair to say the economy

in one way or another dominated several speeches. As we heard the

SDLP is saying it is looking to the younger faces in the party to steer

it through what looks to be a challenging time for all

politicians. And I'm joined by two guests. You're one of the new faces

in the party, what do you see as the party's way forward? The thing

that struck me about this campaign was Alasdair McDonnell's concept of

a collective leadership. That will transform the way we do business

and it has appealed to voters. That is why we got the result. But there

is an irony given that 18 months ago there was a campaign to vote

for anybody was Alasdair McDonnell. But he is willing to bring the

wealth and talents and the new people, pull that together and I

think you have a winning team. have talked about organisation

throughout the conference, but surely there is more to it than

just reorganising the party. No it is fundamentally about

reorganisation. The party has three year and set itself a target to

make a real difference for itself. It goising to go out and get young

peer people to fill the gaps that have emerged and that energy is

needed on the ground. That is where the difference will be made.

Organisation, on the ground, not so much in the immediate ya, but right

in the ground in people's communities. A person in every

Paris what -- parish is what Alasdair McDonnell us talking about.

Is The Man to stoke up the fire? She He is and the party has agreed

its after eight long-termed -- determined weeks and the party has

said Alasdair McDonnell is the person to make the changes to make

it deliver for itself and the debate on the future of this island

and that is fundamentally important. There is a changing context it is

made apparent by Martin McGuinness coming back with his ugly past and

there is a debate about the unity of the island and uniting the

people. That is what Alasdair McDonnell will do, while organising

on the other. What is the national question? The presidential campaign,

there has opened up a new debate. Where does the SDLP fit? Its about

reconciliation. Alasdair McDonnell has what track record in that, he

reaches out across the board. And it is only the SDLP that can

deliver that and the only they can reach out and build bridges across

the community and the island. you. The SDLP conference goes on

over three days and a new leader is in place and listening to his

speech were not the only Three MLAs defeated in the election but some

of the most senior figures from the party. What will be the mood as

they leave the krves? -- conference well with me is Mark Devenport. The

speech is the thing. Yes it let them down. They were hoping for a

new sense of energy and they got that out of the election result.

There was a lot of excitement and they thought they had a tried and

trusted performer in Alasdair McDonnell and we had this huge

technical glitch and he will have wanted the anthem to go out that he

was the raging bull, but instead it was more like blinded by the light.

In terms of his role as leader, how does he take the party forward to

more success? Well is saying that there will be a lot more emphasis

on organisation. He is Celting up task forces and collective

leadership. But we have not heard much about the policy direction. I

think that is still the problem that he faces. That it is all vr

well to say we will be better organised, but you have to have

that unique selling proposition in terms of what the SDLP stands for.

I'm not sure anything has changed. He talks about collectsive

leadership,, but he was the winner about the people who didn't, who

weren't successful, will they toe the line? I think they will have to.

They know they have had this if you like this experience of the

election now, and they have got to pull together. Especially given

what they will face in the short- term of adverse publicity about

this speech. And they will pull together, but it is ease tkwror

talk about a collectsive leadership and more difficult to slot

individuals into place and people think they have been overlooked or

their aren't be recognised. Thank you. Now there was one lighter

moment it came during what else, the leader's speech. So well you