10/11/2012 Social Democratic and Labour Party Conference

Welcome to the programme. The SDLP faithful have gathered for their

annual conference. Yesterday, the the party should be thinking about

going into opposition at Stormont. Today, the focus was on policing,

parades and the economy. Professor Warwick Wilford is here with me and

we are joined by our political Editor as well. We're just going to

see some pictures here of Dr Alasdair McDonnell making his way

into the conference hall in the Armagh City Hotel. What does he

need to do to make up for up the faltering start that he had last

year? As a bare minimum, he has to ensure

that there is no technical glitches. He has been extremely prompt

getting into the hall. He will start very soon and will be wanting

to set out in a road map for either party will move forward.

Let's hear what he has to save. Throughout our debates and

discussions over the last couple of days, one single scene has kept

emerging. That we are entering a new phase of politics. Before I go

there, it is important to let me take a few minutes to reflect on

the heartbreaking events of the few days ago. Four days ago, Mrs Yvonne

black and her children buried her husband, David Black. He was

brutally murdered as she went to work and the people behind this

evil murder have nothing to offer us, politically or in any other way.

There are many issues which politicians in Northern Ireland

might divide on in our communities, but in this core issue, we stand

shoulder to shoulder in a condemnation of this heinous murder.

The people behind this murder claim to carry out these acts in the name

of Ireland. Have they learned nothing from our island's troubled

past? Violence achieves nothing but pain, heartache, loss, and its

neighbour against neighbour. We in the SDLP have always believed that

there is a better way. A better way to a better Ireland. Just as in the

past, others have slowly come round to share our point of view. We will

continue to do all that we can to persuade those out there in the

political wilderness that --. Our view is simple. It is time for

Ireland to regain a sense of pride, its sense of confidence as an

island, as a nation, as a vital part of Europe and a key player in

the wider world. We in the SDLP have the vision and the ambition,

serious ambition, for all the people of Ireland from every

tradition and every community. We We have a vision of a society

founded on progressive values for prosperity is encouraged and

financial institutions must operate ethically. Where the state takes

care of the sick, they are elderly, the poor and the vulnerable. Where

every child is minute and a good quality education is guaranteed for

all. -- every child is valued. I am immensely proud of the political

legacy we have inherited. I am proud of the SDLP, the party you

elected me to lead. I am proud that we stand for passion, respect,

Equality, social justice and prosperity. I am proud that we are

now stronger than we have been in years. I know that we will come

through this new, this new and challenging phase of politics, even

stronger. Above all, I am proud of the van used that the SDLP brought

to politics here beat generation ago. Those values are eternal. Even

though we may express them differently over time. In that the

new phase of politics, in our ambition, I believe we must express

our values in terms of respect, Equality and prosperity for all. As

the people of North Belfast have shown us, respect has the potential

to be the master key to unlocking entrenched positions. A simple

request for respect harms nobody. If reciprocated, that is the

critical element. It can be achy to a much wider and deeper process of

reconciliation. Respect touches upon everything we do. Any society

which wants people to enjoy respect and equality cannot let Government

pushed through savage welfare cuts, cuts that will consolidate and

entrench inequality for a generation. There is a tough battle

to be fought out there in social justice, for and on behalf of all

the marginalised, the disrespected and the disadvantaged in our

communities. We can win this battle and I promise you, we will win this

I want to commend Mark Durkan for the sterling job and the leadership

Last year, you elected me to lead this great party of bars. You put

your trust in me to renew the SDLP. I intend to do so. Today, I am

delighted to tell you that the SDLP fightback is well under way. We are

re-energised and we are well prepared for the electorate battle

ahead. We are not just increasing our presence in places like this

great city, where the first ever lord mayor was our very own Sharon

But we are building that renewed presence right across the North and

beyond. We now have some 40 new local representatives,

enthusiastically assisting and supporting our existing councillors

and MLAs and establishing good representation in those areas where

we lacked a presence. We have a vibrant and vital groups in a

Dublin, London and Brussels. There supporting the party with their

time, their money and their ideas. We're on the move again. The truth

is that everyone inside this room and outside it knows it. We are now

stronger than we were one year ago. The resurgent SDLP has taken on the

tough issues, rejecting the stagnation of a complacent and

paralysed executive at Stormont. Let there be no mistake about this.

Doing that and seeking on that battle has major implications, not

just for you, our members, it has major implications for Dublin and

London and everyone with than in -- interest for the future well-being

of the silent. 14 years ago, we were cast our political

relationships within the silence to create a peace process. Are

devolved institutions have established the basic stability

threshold from which we can make real social and economic progress.

But in order to realise our full potential, I believe that further

recasting of relationships is necessary. I believe that we now

need a prosperity process which will provide a better life for all

our people. We need a new dynamic relationship with Government in

London that allows us maximum devolved control of our own

economic destiny and provides us with all the tools necessary to

rebalance our economy. We need a new dynamic relationship with

Government in Dublin that allows us to maximise the full potential of

North-South co-operation and to widen and deepen the All Ireland

economy at every level. For us, there can be no boundary between

peace and prosperity. For us, the full potential of their Good Friday

Agreement will only be realised when we have created prosperity and

a better quality of life for all Since the Assembly reconvened in

September, the SDLP has already made him more good difference. When

the DUP and Sinn Fein get it wrong, we will challenge them and we will

challenge their stagnant strategies on the very floor of the assembly.

You will have noticed our work been calling Nelson McCausland to

account on parades and the Welfare Reform Bill. You will notice a work

in having some decisions made in the executive. Both of these have

sent out a clear message about the way the SDLP will operate from here

on in. We will bring in new ideas to the assembly and to the

executive in the form of private member's bills of we cannot get

them to produce their own. We are a watchdog within the executive and

three are Minister Alex Attwood, we will face every difficult decision

head on. Our watchdog's IT is every Our First Minister uses sweet and

honeyed words about moving out of the old orange and green politics.

To the left, to the right, as a means of tricking voters into

somehow thinking that a return to Unionist domination under Peter is

in our best interest. That is not innovation. That is just plain

sectarianism with a fresh lick of paint on it. Down the corridor in

the Deputy First Minister's office, there is even less progress. His

party is paralysed into dithering indecision by the fear not only of

what the SDLP erupt two, but the fear of upsetting their new

bedfellows in the DUP. All will have watched and seen all the

phoney fights and false start ups and the mark arguments they have

got into over the last couple of months. They are nothing more than

a fig-leaf designed to reassure the hardliners on both sides that the

DUP and Sinn Fein are still a tough guys in the playground. Let me tell

them, and it time for playing My friends, in our view, all

politics should be based on equality. That is a principle that

this party, the SDLP, has held deer since its foundation. But I want to

ask you something. Do you remember this Sinn Fein island of equals? Do

you remember how quickly it was forgotten? According to the Fair

Employment Tribunal, he rejected a candidate for the chair of Northern

Ireland water, why? Because the candidate was a promise and? And

since that, two more ministers from that party now stand accused of

falling far short of what is required in making honest

appointments to public bodies. How is that for respect? How is that

for a quality? How is that for Many of you know Sinn Fein work

every day trying to rewrite history. They will lay claim, if they could,

to the civil rights movement. Just like they corrupted the term

Republican during their years of murderous campaigning. Let me tell

you, in my opinion, and a solid both these great titles and great

ideals. Conference, we are not going to stand for it. The SDLP

always was and always will be the party of civil rights. Civil rights

And serious questions must be asked of the Alliance Party. Ever since

they were gerrymandered in to two seats by Peter and Marton, they

have become the lap dogs of the two big boys. Howells can you explain

that their votes against him human rights assessment of the welfare

reform? How else can you explain that their attack on the mobility

of Third Level students? You will not explain it in terms of

principle. This kind of paralysis can never deliver anything for our

society. We have no interest whatsoever in perpetuating of

paralysis. We will continued to engage with, workwear and listen to

a civic and business communities. - - work with. We will better

understand the issues that continue to betray the potential which

exists within our community in Northern Ireland. On the top of the

list is jobs. Top of the list is sustainable job creation. And

protecting small businesses is at the core of that issue. We reject

the assertions by the Executive and that they are doing all they can to

create jobs. The economic package just announced is a welcome step,

and it is only right that the Executive refocuses spending in the

direction of job creation. But when you scratch the surface, specific

details are few and far between. There is very little in the way of

new ideas for new money. It seems to be called money recycled. And if

they are doing all they can to protect and create jobs, then, in

my opinion, they are not up to the job. If they are not doing well

they can, shame on them because a bigger effort is needed to make

sure we sustain as many jobs as What are people, particularly our

young people, really need is hope. It is scarce. They need hope for

their future, they need hope and they will not find themselves

having to borrow money, more money to buy a plane ticket to far-off

shores like Australia in search of a living and work. It does not have

to be like this. Jobs can be created, and in my opinion, jobs

must be created. There are many tried and tested ideas with Green

New Deal, the potential to create thousands of new jobs. A small

reduction on fuel duty would save hundreds of jobs and create

hundreds more. The jobs potential from tourism is enormous. Visitors,

we need them to build a thriving tourist industry and they are

already coming to our island. 7 million that every year. 5 million

come in through Dublin. Less than one hour's drive from County Armagh.

How many of those 5 million cross the border? We need to get them a

cross the border. In our town centres we have small retail

businesses going to the wall. Remember, protecting and supporting

these businesses protects jobs and the communities they serve. That is

why the SDLP will be rolling out our own regeneration plans. And it

is simply about taking the best of the ideas that are out there, there

are plenty of reports, and creating an action plan. Our towns and

communities across the north face another and more immediate threat.

Our elderly, our disabled, our disadvantaged are all at their wits

end and I have them in my office every day wondering how they are

going to afford to face the next day with the cuts that are already

there and the more savage cuts to come. These cuts that the Tories

are trying to impose here are driving people over the edge. This

is totally and utterly unacceptable. Yes, we admit there is a case for

reform in the welfare system to limit the abuses and focus the

money on those most in need. No-one would dispute that. But we know

that that is not what this is all about. This reform is about

something else. We here of a much higher dependency for its variety

of valid reasons. Decades of under- investment. Servia under provision

of childcare. The legacy of the Troubles. Many thousands of people

out there still suffering from the injuries. Debilitating physical and

mental distress as a result of a needless conflict. And again, on

top of all that, with it Iain Duncan Smith proposing a further

benefit cut. Benefits cut off after the birth of a second child. The

last time we heard that was from Basil Brooke in the 1940s.

Delegates, this makes me angry. It also makes me angry to hear the

verbal somersaults of Sinn Fein spokesman trying to convince the

voters that they are against the Welfare Reform Bill when all the

time they are doing little to oppose it. I want to send a message

today. If they are really against the Welfare Reform Bill, all they

have to do his vote against it. Sometimes politics can be that

People want clarity and certainty in politics. People want a bit of

clarity and certainty about their children's education. People worry

as to whether their child will be able to get a free pre-school place

in their neighbourhood. Whether the local primary school will have a

place for their child and whether the school will be properly

resourced or not. I am talking to you on a day when thousands of ten

and 11-year-olds are sitting on official exams. Many of them doing

these exams four Saturdays in a row. Parents are asking me, when will

I want you to know that we are up working to do all that we can to

insure parents' expectations in education are met. People need

clarity and certainty about their health care. Make no mistake, the

SDLP is firmly focused on spotting and stamping out the creeping

privatisation that is attempting to take place in a health service. We

will not shy away from taking the fight right to the House of Commons.

We go to Westminster where there is It is easy not going there, but

people's interests are to be protected and it is always better

to have influence on the inside than posturing and posing on the

outside. When we are there we build influence wherever we go. You only

have to look at the work Margaret Ritchie is doing, working

Mark Durkan has done a Trojan job fighting for stronger credit unions

and better regulation of banks, and And I have made some efforts myself

to secure the reduction and devolution of air passenger duty,

and we will continue to work there at Westminster and continue to work

closely with our friends, particularly the shadow Secretary

of State. It was a privilege to hear him speak this morning. Vernon

has always been a friend of the SDLP. The East-West relationship is

important. But the North-South relationships are absolutely vital.

North-South works because the engagement insurers that the people

in the south, business community and otherwise, recognise and see

the opportunities in the north. They see our strengths and

weaknesses. They know where we can complement each other, they know

where we can do business. North- South development makes absolute

sense in so many areas of our lives. We firmly believe that this island

that we live on can be so much more prosperous as a result and we know

that we could greatly increase North-South development. That the

issues we are looking at, providing space for cross-border health care,

cross-border Education Development, shared telecommunications, these

are only a few. But we must work together in mutual interests of the

whole island. I would just ask people to take a particular look at

the All-Ireland energy market and what it had done for us. In terms

of North-South development, there is no greater symbol than the

narrow Water a bridge. Let me just remind you, we had a few people

popping up for pictures when it was announced, but there is no greater

symbol than a narrow Water a bridge as far as I am concerned. Our

people in South Down, war and. Were fighting for that as far back as

the 1970s. We propose that bridge in the mid- 1970s. Can I pay

tribute to all of our representatives, all of the party

activists who argued for and fought for, and every time I met them they

did my head in, demanding that the narrow what a bridge was the most

important thing in cross-border development. Find a queue for doing

The narrow Water of bridge is a victory for the SDLP, his victory

for its values and didn't years to come it will stand as a proud

symbol of unity. Unity of common sense and common purpose. 14 years

after we proposed it, the North- South Parliamentary Association it

has finally happened. Bringing together legislation from its

dormant. We find common cause on serious issues that affect the

whole island. Within the north, the job of driving North-South co-

operation is increasingly being left to us. It is not be enough to

have ministers in the Executive going through the motions, taking

the boxes, we need to realise the practical, mutual benefits as has

been done Kirkley with paediatric cardiac surgery. This can be done

much wider in the healthcare field. The other thing that distresses me

is the reluctance of Arlene Foster to engage with plans. A year long

tourist drive aimed at bringing home island's global diaspora,

Arlene was staggering in her lack of vision. The potential tourist

revenue that could have been generated in the North seemed to

pass her by. North-South co- operation is too important to be

left to the vagaries of party politics. We welcome the fact that

others now recognise there is more to achieve. The decades of

democratic struggled show that when Dublin political parties are at one

and working in corporation with us, real progress can be achieved.

Peace and progress had been well served in previous times by a

united approach. In the new phase of Irish politics now opening up,

we will be asking all the parties of democratic nationalism in

Ireland to reaffirm their commitment to a joint approach in

building a better future for all on the island. That is the future I

want to see. One with respect, the quality, reconciliation and social

justice. It is only through that unity of purpose that we can ever

hope for a national unity in the On the first January, we will take

over the European presidency once again. We will ensure that the

whole island benefits from the massive opportunity that this

stewardship of birds. We in the SDLP our pride and committed

Europeans, as well as being proud Irishmen and women. When we looked

to Eastern Europe and the Balkans, the European Union has proved to be

one of the Great Peace builders of our time. That was recognised last

month by the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize. Our party was once led

by another of the Great Peace builders of our time, recognised

not just with the Nobel Prize, but recently, also a Papal knighthood.

I am very humbled, conference, at asking you to take that moment to

acknowledge the presence of our hero and friend John Hume here

today. He was magnificent. We will never be able to repay him or even

thank him for the work he did. We have a lot to offer Europe, both as

a party and as a nation. Northern Ireland deserves so much better

than a group of anti- European politicians have heartily

representing us, when we could be taking much more and taking much

more out of our positions. We could be making much more in terms of

Agriculture and the Common Agricultural Policy reforms. We

could be making much more on the whole range of research and

development opportunities and Horizon Twenty20 is just round the

corner. Let me tell you here and now, in talking to colleagues right

across the party, the SDLP is determined to win back our European

And let me tell you, if I know the mood of this party, or if I can

take the mood of this party at present, I know we will do that.

Conference, everything I am saying and everything I have said for

points in one direction. We are moving into a new phase of politics

on this island. Let's be clear. We will not be thwarted by the evil

attempts of a tiny minority, just as we did not allow ourselves to be

thwarted in the past. In my opinion, it is time and now it for a real

reconciliation and prosperity process, which has been so

neglected to begin. We need that reconciliation. Victims deserve the

truth. And if Sinn Fein, and they make a lot of to do about the

process of reconciliation, let them But the protection of our peace

process has been used for far too long as a barrier to facing up to

the need for truth and reconciliation. Truth and

reconciliation is an issue that really matters to so many of our

people out there. And we cannot wait any longer for that to start

moving. We need real, and meaningful, honest reconciliation.

But behind that, we also need effective Government. We have had

enough gestures and photocalls at sporting events from Peter and

Marton. Unless those gestures and photocalls are backed up what

sustained leadership and genuine, credible moves towards long-term

reconciliation, they're only a show raid. They're seen as cynical and

they serve more as a barrier to meaningful reconciliation for the

people of the North. Where, Peter, where, Marton, where his meaningful

progress on the integration strategy? I believe them to answer

that. The SDLP is very clear. We want to make full use of our peace

and stability to move on and create peace and prosperity for all. We

want to recast a relationships to give us the power, the powers

needed to create prosperity. In this new phase, we will begin to

see the shape of the new Ireland emerging. A very different island

from the island of the past or the one we know today. But we will need

to work hard to make sure it is the new islands that we have campaigned

for its writer party's history. It prosperous New Ireland for all that

treasures all the children of this island equally, where fear is

removed and where we can proactive the reach out to the Unionist

community to show that as proud and confident Irish men and women, we

fully respect their sense of Britishness. And more than that,

far beyond flags and labels, we respect and will fight for their

and their family's right to live at peace in a land of prosperity, of

So today, friends, I have an ask of you. It sounds simple, but it is

really very big. I want to ask each of you, each and every one of you,

to go back to your constituencies, you branches, you communities and

work with me to rebuild the SDLP and to all that is necessary to get

us back at the heart of Government again. Because that is where we

belong. It will not work if we are And I just want to tell you and

don't want to warn you that in days to come, we will be proud to look

back on our work and the achievements we have made for all

the people on this island. And finally say, in the words you and

for dinner party's history, we have Dr Alasdair McDonnell is joined on

the platform again by his wife, Olivia, and three of his children.

They're taking the applause there at the end of his second speech as

leader of the SDLP. Just as we watch these pictures, all of his

children have arrived on stage. Obviously, a standing ovation. No

surprise in that. He takes the salute of his party faithful. What

is you make of the quality of what he had to say over the last 25

minutes? If we were having a scorecard and

platitudes, he would do very well. It could not be a worse speech than

last year, where he just stumbled into the ground. But he was too

general. There simply wasn't any detail and his speech. There was no

clear strategy. There was just an exhortation to the party faithful

to go out there and rebuild the party. He talked earlier in his

speech about his intention to rebuild the party. In its first

speech one year ago, he gave himself 100 days to revise the

party's fortunes. We're almost 400 days be on that, and his party are

still languishing in the polls. His level of support is a 13%. Dr

Alasdair McDonnell has an approval rating in the pub his first year's

leadership has been one of failure and it is very difficult to see

this as the springboard to recovery. 10 Jetty said very clearly that we

have begun the fight back and we are stronger than we were one year

ago. That is the line he used in the middle of the speech.

They're not. They lost two seats last year in the assembly election.

Over the last decade, they have lost one third of their local

principles. This is a party which is in serious decline. The issue he

has to face is, how does it turn that decline around? I am not sure,

even amongst the most diehard supporters of the SDLP, that this

is a speech that will inspire. Speeches can be good and inspiring.

I think this was really a rather modest effort. It's just lacked

detail. It was illegal and it was a bird's eye view of what the party

needs to do. -- skeletal. We need to know what the strategy is, what

their ambitions are and what their targets are. There was not one

target mentioned in the whole of the speech. They have only one

minister in the executive and he also indicated some time ago that

they were going to rotate the minister. That has not happened. We

got the deputy leader of the party canvassing yet again of the idea of

going into opposition, something he is not terribly enthusiastic about.

That part of the leadership does not seem to be agreed either. This

is a party which is still struggling to find its way.

He has left the conference hall and lots of MLAs and councillors up to

shake his hand and congratulate him on the speech. He has made his way

out. Let's go back and hear from our political Editor who has been

following the speech for us in the city hotels. Rick has raised a

number of issues there. I am not sure if you heard what he had to

say. He is suggesting that it was lacking in substance and targets.

What reaction has there been with the people you have been talking

There has not been any time to react because some of them are just

setting out of the hall behind me, but we should not lose sight of the

fact that people are well pleased. It actually happened Crosslee, to

time, went off smoothly and there was none of the repeats of the

fiasco of last year's conference that sob Dr Alasdair McDonnell

blinking in the lights. He ended up resorting to a more old-fashioned

methods and slivered his speech without any autocue. He seemed to

be more satisfied and at ease with that. There was a little bit of an

accident in that some of the queue was tried out and did not work, but

it looks like the old ways served him best. I have got a couple of

MLAs with me. They will give their immediate reaction to the speech.

In terms of the technicalities, you must have been pleased. What about

the content? I thought it was very strong. He

later marker down to the Sinn Fein Party in particular. If they're

serious about opposing welfare reform, they should join us and

boat that bill down. Very strong on Europe and very strong on this

party's long-standing ambition to build a new Ireland and the need to

that reconciliation at the heart of it. If Sinn Fein are serious about

reconciliation, they can start with one simple thing - telling the

truth about what happened in our past.

You have been specialising in reconciliation and involved in a

report that a party has drawn up on that. You're of is the critical

Sinn Fein, but of is the principal -- critical of the gritters

Government as well. I want to see Sinn Fein and the British

Government set out of the shadows of their past.

They have some skeletons that need outed. Whatever process we agree on,

it must be founded on the basis that the truth will out and that

justice will follow. We're not getting that today either from the

British Government or from Sinn Fein. That needs to change or this

island will suffer. Mark Durkan, one of the debates

that has been knocking around within a hall has been a whole

place of whether you should stay within the executive or move into

opposition. Dolores Kelly nailed her flag to the poll last night.

But instead, Dr Alasdair McDonnell has been talking more about the

That is a debate that will continue to be knocking about. We play a

very good role as a watchdog. By think at some stage, people will

wonder if this watchdog should be led off the leash. And allow us to

do more in terms of opposing measures the Government are

bringing forward. And questioning measures that they aren't. On the

one hand we had the leader talking about a paralyse Executive, yet the

voters will say, you're part of that. That is true. We are, in

effect, tarnished by the lack of productivity from the Executive. At

the same time we can look to Walsall Executive minister as a

parrot on of how it should be done. -- look at our only Executive

minister. Alex Attwood has brought forward policies and legislation,

practices and he has shown how devolution should work and how

devolution it would work if we had more ministers. No doubt this is a

debate that will carry on. political Editor there. The

delegates are coming out from listening to that speech by the

party leader, Dr Alasdair McDonnell. Just a final thought before we end

this programme. The final line is a fascinating one. Go back to your

constituencies, work to rebuild the SDLP, do what is necessary to get

us to the heart of government. But they are at the heart of government.

I suspect he meant get more of us in government. It is a strange line,

they have a minister. Of course, they were the second largest party

and in the first phase of devolution they had the Deputy

Minister. That is a symbol of how they have fallen from the voters

Greece. I do not think this is a speech that will turn around the

fortunes of the SDLP. -- voters grace. It also belies what he said

a year ago. He gave himself three months to revive the party's

fortunes. We are 12 months on and here we are, he is saying, I intend

to rebuild the party. He is saying, let's get back to the heart of

government, but his deputy yesterday called for the party to

consider going into opposition. It is a mixed message. Exactly. The

beauty of the design of our Executive is that you can be both

at the same time. You can ride both horses. Why relinquish your one

seat when you can actually stay there? Interesting to hear your