:00:24. > :00:28.Hello and welcome to Stormont Today. Coming up in the next half hour: The
:00:29. > :00:32.Deputy First Minister urges his Assembly colleagues, once again, to
:00:33. > :00:40.get the ball rolling on the Haass proposals. What we need to do is
:00:41. > :00:45.show the public right across society that we have the ability to tackle
:00:46. > :00:48.these difficult issues. With under-18s to be banned from
:00:49. > :00:52.buying electronic cigarettes in England, the Health Minister says it
:00:53. > :00:58.could happen here too. I know these cigarettes are being used by smokers
:00:59. > :01:02.as an alternative and it probably is a better alternative than smoking,
:01:03. > :01:07.but I don't think it is any alternative to get youngsters under
:01:08. > :01:10.18 hooked on nicotine. And our political reporter, Stephen
:01:11. > :01:17.Walker, joins me to cast his eye over the day's events.
:01:18. > :01:20.In what has become a fairly common stance for him, the Deputy First
:01:21. > :01:24.Minister was again voicing his frustration at the lack of progress
:01:25. > :01:28.over the Haass proposals. Martin McGuinness was on his feet during
:01:29. > :01:31.questions to the Office of the First and Deputy First Ministers this
:01:32. > :01:34.afternoon. While the past was a focal point, so too was the future
:01:35. > :01:41.and who will be the Attorney General come May. The Deputy First Minister
:01:42. > :01:46.will recall in the autumn that the First Minister said that he and the
:01:47. > :01:57.Deputy First Minister will be reaching a
:01:58. > :01:58.Deputy First Minister will be and what further information can the
:01:59. > :02:03.Deputy First Minister give to this House? Well, I can give no further
:02:04. > :02:09.information to the House other than to state the position that we
:02:10. > :02:13.recognise that come May this year the position of Attorney General
:02:14. > :02:18.needs to be filled. We've had a discussion about that in the course
:02:19. > :02:23.of the last seven days. And we do hope to be in a position very
:02:24. > :02:28.shortly to make an announcement. Given the issues that the Attorney
:02:29. > :02:33.General has involved himself in, does the Deputy First Minister think
:02:34. > :02:40.he has strayed outside his remit? When he was appointed we invited him
:02:41. > :02:49.to undertake the nonstatutory role of adviser to the executive. He has
:02:50. > :02:54.a range of responsibilities, 22-5 of the Justice Act 2002 requires him to
:02:55. > :03:00.exercise his functions independently of any other person. There may well
:03:01. > :03:05.be timed when the statutory role action ways that others might
:03:06. > :03:12.consider unhelpful. And there may be times that we as an executive differ
:03:13. > :03:15.from his views but it what be wrong to curtail his actions when had ea
:03:16. > :03:21.acting in an independent statutory role. Both the Minister and the
:03:22. > :03:29.deputy Minister will be aware that the evidence given by the Sisters of
:03:30. > :03:33.Mercy nuns was described as haphazard and piecemeal. Will the
:03:34. > :03:38.Minister be able to give her view as to where she sees obligations of the
:03:39. > :03:43.institutions such as the Sisters of Nazareth in order to co-operate
:03:44. > :03:48.fully with this inquiry? Well, just to say to the member, you've asked
:03:49. > :03:53.for my view, and really there couldn't be anything more dreadful
:03:54. > :03:55.than what those people had to go through, and particularly the
:03:56. > :04:01.vulnerability of those children, because they had nobody to turn to.
:04:02. > :04:05.Really, I have to say that anyone should be approaching this inquiry,
:04:06. > :04:05.on should be approaching this inquiry,
:04:06. > :04:16.evidence should be doing it with should be approaching this inquiry,
:04:17. > :04:20.organisation they are from. Mr Speaker, can I ask the Deputy First
:04:21. > :04:24.Minister, given our commitment to the ongoing Haass process, can the
:04:25. > :04:30.Deputy First Minister outline his view on the next steps? Well, I
:04:31. > :04:35.think the next steps are very clear and they are in the public domain.
:04:36. > :04:41.The party leaders in the Assembly have met now and two occasions, will
:04:42. > :04:48.meet again tomorrow. That will probably be a lengthier meeting than
:04:49. > :04:53.the first two. I think there is a huge responsibility on all of us to
:04:54. > :04:58.find a way forward on these three contentious issues. I think i in
:04:59. > :05:05.incumbent on all of us to be positive and constructive and to
:05:06. > :05:10.recognise that the lot of politician among the general public isn't
:05:11. > :05:16.great. I find that embarrassing. I think that what we need to do is
:05:17. > :05:21.show the public right across society that we have the ability to tackle
:05:22. > :05:27.these difficult issues. We've tackled even more difficult issues
:05:28. > :05:33.than this in the past. Our political reporter, Stephen
:05:34. > :05:38.Walker, is with me. The Haass process came up again during today's
:05:39. > :05:44.Question Time, do you detect any sign of significant movement there
:05:45. > :05:48.at all? In a word, no. We are in limbo land. The Haass talks broke up
:05:49. > :05:51.on New Year's Eve. We had a series of meetings in January. We've got
:05:52. > :05:54.another meeting tomorrow. We are told that tomorrow's meeting will
:05:55. > :05:58.last around four hours. That the will be the longest meeting sips the
:05:59. > :06:03.talks broke up. Certainly talking to parties tonight there's no sense
:06:04. > :06:06.that parties are coming tomorrow, there's no expectation there'll be
:06:07. > :06:09.consensus tomorrow. The problem is this, there is no consensus on
:06:10. > :06:14.what's contained in the Haass proposals and there's no consensus
:06:15. > :06:18.on the way forward. And lack of consensus but clear tensions between
:06:19. > :06:20.Sinn Fein and the DUP about what happens next as far as the proposals
:06:21. > :06:24.are concerned? happens next as far as the proposals
:06:25. > :06:31.they were highlighted, when you did happens next as far as the proposals
:06:32. > :06:35.McGuinness, he talked about the Americans possibly, hoping this
:06:36. > :06:41.process could be wrapped up by March, and he said he was fed one
:06:42. > :06:45.that process. Peter Robinson gave an interview and said this wasn't Sinn
:06:46. > :06:49.Fein's process and accused Martin McGuinness of being a dictator. He
:06:50. > :06:53.said this was all about consensus and moving forward. This didn't
:06:54. > :06:57.belong to one party but all five. That gave an indication of the gulf
:06:58. > :07:01.that exists between Sinn Fein and the DU puxt. We'll watch tomorrow
:07:02. > :07:04.afternoon's meeting with interest. In the meantime the Attorney
:07:05. > :07:08.General's future was raised during Question Time. Yes, we had a
:07:09. > :07:13.reference to it there with Martin McGuinness. We were told last year
:07:14. > :07:19.this whole issue of John Larkin remaining as Attorney General, or
:07:20. > :07:25.whether he would go on to another job, we were told this issue would
:07:26. > :07:28.be wrapped up by now. You get a sense of frustration among
:07:29. > :07:32.politicians that they want a decision and want to know what is
:07:33. > :07:37.happening about John Larkin's future. He's been a controversial
:07:38. > :07:42.figure. The controversial views on adoption and abortion. Recently he
:07:43. > :07:45.gave an interview, talking about offences during the Troubles. I
:07:46. > :07:51.think there was a feeling from some parties here, they want closure.
:07:52. > :07:55.They want to know, is John Larkin staying? Or if he is going, what is
:07:56. > :07:59.the the process for the next Attorney General? Are we clear what
:08:00. > :08:04.timetable we might be talking about in terms of clarity, knowing if he's
:08:05. > :08:09.staying or not staying, presumably they've got to put in place plans
:08:10. > :08:14.for finding a successor? No-one has mapped out the timetable. What we do
:08:15. > :08:18.know is his term of office expires in May. Here we are in January, so
:08:19. > :08:24.if he was going, and there was to be a successor, clearly you would have
:08:25. > :08:28.to have an advertisement, a short-listing, a process in place.
:08:29. > :08:34.But as of yet we don't know anything about that. For now, thank you.
:08:35. > :08:37.One of the biggest pieces of legislation facing the Assembly was
:08:38. > :08:47.debated today - the Public Service Pensions Bill. The changes
:08:48. > :08:49.debated today - the Public Service one from Jim Allister which called
:08:50. > :08:58.for changes surrounding pension payments to the widows of police
:08:59. > :09:01.officers who died while in service. Arguably this is the most
:09:02. > :09:06.significant piece of legislation to come before this chamber thus far in
:09:07. > :09:11.this mandate, and therefore it is important at this last stage when
:09:12. > :09:16.amendments can be tabled that we can try to reconfigure the Bill as best
:09:17. > :09:19.we can in the interests of the people that will be affected, the
:09:20. > :09:27.230,000 people that will be affected by the Bill on the far side of royal
:09:28. > :09:30.assent. What all that reveal me, Mr Deputy Speaker, is this House needs
:09:31. > :09:33.to be vigilant about this pensions legislation, because the Treasury
:09:34. > :09:39.and George Osborne and his team aren't finished with this yet. As I
:09:40. > :09:42.say, we are talking about a small number of widows in very particular
:09:43. > :09:48.circumstances, yet the objections from with Whitehall departments has
:09:49. > :09:56.been that to amend the regulations would breech principles such as
:09:57. > :10:01.retro specktivity and parity. The Minister hasn't found a resolution.
:10:02. > :10:07.Mr Allister says the Bill offers an opportunity to address this issue
:10:08. > :10:12.and the Alliance Party has sympathy with the widows. I've met with one
:10:13. > :10:17.of the widows in this circumstances, who lost her husband, who was killed
:10:18. > :10:21.because of the job le was doing. She had very I don't think children and
:10:22. > :10:25.is now in a position where she would seek to remarry, but the financial
:10:26. > :10:30.consequences of doing so are very severe. Therefore, has been stuck in
:10:31. > :10:35.the position for quite a number of years now, wanting to do the right
:10:36. > :10:39.thing according to her faith, because this individual is a
:10:40. > :10:44.Christian and they want to honour those principles that she lives by.
:10:45. > :10:47.But in doing so, these regulation would bring a great deal of
:10:48. > :10:50.financial hardship in that particular circumstances.
:10:51. > :11:05.Unaccustomed as I am that in respect of this particular
:11:06. > :11:12.amendment. Let's be very clear, Mr Deputy Speaker, the purpose of this
:11:13. > :11:20.amendment is to bring equality of treatment to all police widows.
:11:21. > :11:27.Because at this moment in time, we have an inequality in regard to the
:11:28. > :11:35.retention of lifelong benefits by widows, because since the changes
:11:36. > :11:44.made under the new regulations of 2009, a new widow, to put it in
:11:45. > :11:49.those terms, retains her lifelong benefits upon remarriage. I have to
:11:50. > :11:53.say I welcomes amendments 15 and 19, the content of this proposed new
:11:54. > :11:59.clause is something I understand the Minister of Justice has previously
:12:00. > :12:03.been petitioned on by several representatives, including Mr Given,
:12:04. > :12:07.who mentioned Diane Dodds and Geoffrey Donaldson and the Justice
:12:08. > :12:13.Committee, and Mr Allister as well, to make a change for police widows
:12:14. > :12:17.and widowers as well. It is gender blind in Northern Ireland. I
:12:18. > :12:21.certainly can understand that and share Mr Allister's concern on the
:12:22. > :12:27.inconsistencies between police pension scheme legislation in
:12:28. > :12:33.respect of pensions paid to police widows and widowers on remarriage.
:12:34. > :12:36.The regulations were less generous overall, provide for lifelong
:12:37. > :12:40.benefits to be paid to the surviving spouse or nominated partner of a
:12:41. > :12:45.police officer. I realise that what we have before us today is a
:12:46. > :12:50.sensitive issue. It is especially emotive for those in the situation
:12:51. > :12:54.who've lost a wife of a husband or a partner who served in the police. It
:12:55. > :12:57.is patently unfair for the survivors of police officers, whether in the
:12:58. > :13:02.royal Ulster Constabulary or the Police Service of Northern Ireland
:13:03. > :13:05.to be treated differently. And that amendment from Jim Allister
:13:06. > :13:07.was passed. You can catch up with the entirety of that marathon debate
:13:08. > :13:14.on Democracy the entirety of that marathon debate
:13:15. > :13:18.with England in the entirety of that marathon debate
:13:19. > :13:21.Edwin Poots was speaking during Question Time, when he was also
:13:22. > :13:24.asked how he would spend the extra money recently given to his
:13:25. > :13:30.department by the Finance Minister last week. Can I ask the Minister to
:13:31. > :13:34.detail how the ?30 million allocated in the January monitoring round will
:13:35. > :13:39.be used? I thank the member for that question. There's a series of things
:13:40. > :13:44.that we will have to invest in. As I indicated to the House, one of the
:13:45. > :13:48.areas where we identified that we were having particular issues and
:13:49. > :13:55.problems was in children identified as children at risk. I think it will
:13:56. > :14:00.shock many members of the public to learn that we have hundreds more
:14:01. > :14:07.children now identified as children at risk this year than we had last
:14:08. > :14:13.year. I think that will be to do with the issues highlighted on
:14:14. > :14:17.television, relating to Savile and many other personalities mostly
:14:18. > :14:24.associated with the BBC. That has brought that to people's attention.
:14:25. > :14:29.?5 million is being spent on that. There are a number of other areas,
:14:30. > :14:34.including urgent care, including elective surgery and so forth that
:14:35. > :14:38.we will want to continue to support, because we've been making a real
:14:39. > :14:42.dent on many of the waiting times that existed. People are receiving
:14:43. > :14:47.care at a much more appropriate time. There's a whole series of
:14:48. > :14:52.things that we will be spending that money on. While we are continuing to
:14:53. > :14:57.attempt to save money within the system, and that is always a
:14:58. > :15:01.challenge to us, to ensure that we have as efficient a system as
:15:02. > :15:05.possible. If we don't deliver efficiencies, we deny people
:15:06. > :15:09.services, because we are spending money on things that are un. The
:15:10. > :15:13.Minister will be aware that the Government at Westminster are
:15:14. > :15:18.bringing forward an amendment to the children and families Bill that will
:15:19. > :15:33.outlaw to sale of e-cigarettes to under 18s. What sacs will
:15:34. > :15:37.outlaw to sale of e-cigarettes to will need to be looking at how we
:15:38. > :15:42.can quickly assess the situation and carry out some movement on it. I
:15:43. > :15:48.will speaking to my teenage daughter the other day and she was telling me
:15:49. > :15:55.that lots of children in her school are using e-cigarettes. That's
:15:56. > :15:59.something which I would be most unhappy with. I know that
:16:00. > :16:03.e-cigarettes are being used by smokers as an alternative, and
:16:04. > :16:08.probably it is a better alternative than smoking. But I don't think that
:16:09. > :16:11.it is any alternative to get youngsters under the age of 18
:16:12. > :16:15.hooked on nicotine. I think it is very, very important that we make a
:16:16. > :16:20.full assessment of this and we respond quickly to it and I will be
:16:21. > :16:25.looking closely at what Westminster is doing and see how we in Northern
:16:26. > :16:28.Ireland can move this forward. The took industry -- the tobacco
:16:29. > :16:32.industry has been very good at making smoking appear cool. I have
:16:33. > :16:36.no doubt that people selling e-cigarettes will have no problem in
:16:37. > :16:41.making it appear to be a cool thing to do. Anybody teen is a more
:16:42. > :16:47.addictive substance than heroin. We really need to be challenging the
:16:48. > :16:50.use of nicotine in such a way. We need to be discouraging people and
:16:51. > :16:56.particularly our young people, because two thirds of smokers start
:16:57. > :17:00.smoke whenever -- smoking is when they are under 18. We need to ensure
:17:01. > :17:04.that we are getting the right messages out, and we are taking the
:17:05. > :17:08.right actions to ensure that young people don't start smoking in the
:17:09. > :17:13.first place and they don't believe it is cool, hip or trendy.
:17:14. > :17:17.Health issues are very much centre stage in the Assembly this week.
:17:18. > :17:19.We've just had questions to the Minister of Health, and today's
:17:20. > :17:22.adjournment debate was on nursing staff levels in key hospital wards.
:17:23. > :17:25.Meantime, tomorrow there are two more debates on the current
:17:26. > :17:28.situation regarding Accident Emergency departments. With me now
:17:29. > :17:31.is Janice Smyth from the Royal College of Nursing. Evening to you,
:17:32. > :17:35.thank you for joining us. Good evening. Toe Ed a -- today's motion
:17:36. > :17:52.on staffing levels called on evening. Toe Ed a -- today's motion
:17:53. > :17:55.the Minister's going to make about increasing staffing levels in some
:17:56. > :18:01.of our wards and in our communities. So you think there is movement there
:18:02. > :18:07.imminently from the ministry? He hasn't quite spelled it out yet. He
:18:08. > :18:10.hasn't given the detail yet but we've been involved in a piece of
:18:11. > :18:14.work. The Minister was giving that due consideration, and in fairness
:18:15. > :18:18.to him he was receptive to the concerns that we were raising, so we
:18:19. > :18:23.are hopeful that this is going to be the start of putting some of those
:18:24. > :18:27.things right. And is that a development that members of the
:18:28. > :18:32.public will see when they find themselves visiting hospitals for
:18:33. > :18:36.whatever reason? They are very quick to say when they see problems, do
:18:37. > :18:39.you this I this could put those problems right? Members of public
:18:40. > :18:45.are consistently saying that nurses are too busy. This work is starting
:18:46. > :18:48.in general medical wards and general surgical wards in our hospitals
:18:49. > :18:53.across Northern Ireland. So if there's additional resource to
:18:54. > :18:57.increase the staffing in those clinical places, patients will see
:18:58. > :19:01.it, relatives will see it, and it will improve patient care and
:19:02. > :19:04.experience. We though that A departments have been at the
:19:05. > :19:08.forefront of people's minds since the major incident at the Royal a
:19:09. > :19:13.few weeks ago tnlt chair of the health committee said tonight in the
:19:14. > :19:18.chamber that 36 people at that stage were waiting on trolleys in A at
:19:19. > :19:24.the RVH. People will think, here we go again. 36 too many, and certainly
:19:25. > :19:30.the nurses in that department have been raising concerns about that for
:19:31. > :19:34.a considerable amount of time. There are real issues about our system and
:19:35. > :19:38.how it is coping with the numbers of people coming through our
:19:39. > :19:42.departments, and more importantly the availability of beds to put them
:19:43. > :19:47.into to. It is not just the problems in A People are waiting on
:19:48. > :19:51.trolleys because there aren't beds for them to go on to. That's right.
:19:52. > :19:56.The beds are full and there's nowhere for patients to go. That's a
:19:57. > :19:56.considerable problem and we've seen pressure developing in
:19:57. > :19:59.considerable problem and we've seen department in the Royal
:20:00. > :20:09.considerable problem and we've seen allocated an extra ?30 million to
:20:10. > :20:13.the health Budget. Where do you think that money could best be
:20:14. > :20:17.spent? Where would it help your staff members and members of public
:20:18. > :20:24.who are trying to avail of the service? It would disingenuous for
:20:25. > :20:30.me to say this can be fixed easily, but it can't. If some of that money
:20:31. > :20:33.is to go to staffing, and I'm confident it will, it will make a
:20:34. > :20:37.difference to front line nurses and the care they can give to patients.
:20:38. > :20:41.There's a big er conversation we have about the services we provide
:20:42. > :20:44.in Northern Ireland, and professionals, politicians and the
:20:45. > :20:47.public need to have that conversation together. We'll see if
:20:48. > :20:52.the conversation takes place. For now, thank you.
:20:53. > :20:55.In this week's committee wrap we're looking at the issue of household
:20:56. > :20:59.rates. Each council sets its own level of rates, so what happens when
:21:00. > :21:02.the current 26 bodies are reorganised into just 11 in 2015?
:21:03. > :21:05.Last week the Finance Committee was briefed by the department's head of
:21:06. > :21:08.rating policy on the plans in place to deal with potential anomalies
:21:09. > :21:14.when the new councils come into being. The first element and
:21:15. > :21:21.probably the most significant of this is managing rates convergence.
:21:22. > :21:25.And the development of a transitional relief scheme to
:21:26. > :21:30.protectorate payers who would otherwise face sudden and excessive
:21:31. > :21:35.increases by councils coming together and also by some rate
:21:36. > :21:41.payers moving into Belfast from Castlereagh and Lisburn. Without
:21:42. > :21:48.intervention, they could face significant increases in district
:21:49. > :21:54.rates. So that's our objective. In terms of where we are, the executive
:21:55. > :22:01.took the decision about a year ago I think it was to provide funding of
:22:02. > :22:05.up to ?30 million in total to fund a transitional relief scheme. We have
:22:06. > :22:10.decided and Ministers have decided that the best way of doing this is
:22:11. > :22:14.to allow councils to strike their rates in the normal way, and for the
:22:15. > :22:22.discount to be given to relevant rates in the normal way, and for the
:22:23. > :22:27.rate payers on the face of the rate bill. So councils won't have to
:22:28. > :22:35.strike differential rates to edge rates up top a common district rate.
:22:36. > :22:45.That will be applied at a bill level by D P working with DOE. Our current
:22:46. > :22:49.view is that we can develop a reasonably generous scheme in terms
:22:50. > :22:54.of stepping increases over a three or four-year period and all the
:22:55. > :23:00.modelling that we've carried out with colleagues in DOE suggests that
:23:01. > :23:07.this is doable within ?3 million of funding. Our main concern is to how
:23:08. > :23:10.we get this to operate alongside a domestic re-evaluation, which takes
:23:11. > :23:14.effect on the same date. That's what's causing us a head ache at the
:23:15. > :23:21.moment. I'm sure we'll be able to find a way around that. On its own,
:23:22. > :23:30.a transitional relief scheme for RPA is both workable, deliverable and
:23:31. > :23:34.affordable, in our view. In terms of the ?30 million for the transitional
:23:35. > :23:40.scheme, can you elaborate on how that figure was arrived at? You said
:23:41. > :23:46.you are reasonable assured that it will be within that... I don't know
:23:47. > :23:56.what the district rates are going to be next year. That's a big unknown
:23:57. > :24:01.and we don't know the impact of a non-domic re-evaluation. I think
:24:02. > :24:08.that should do it. In terms of a scheme that will at least protects
:24:09. > :24:14.rate payers from some - all rate pay here's would face sudden increases
:24:15. > :24:18.as a result of councils coming together.
:24:19. > :24:20.A snapshot of proceedings from last week's Finance Committee.
:24:21. > :24:23.If you were watching last Tuesday's programme, you may remember this
:24:24. > :24:26.exchange between the Deputy Speaker, Roy Beggs, and UKIP's David McNarry
:24:27. > :24:39.during questions to the Finance Minister. I call
:24:40. > :24:43.during questions to the Finance was a meaningful warning about the
:24:44. > :24:49.ruling on debts or call-ups by the Treasury which could Ed up in 200
:24:50. > :24:54.million if we don't do something about this. It is time we did do
:24:55. > :25:01.something about it. Since April 2007 prices have risen by 18%. Can we
:25:02. > :25:10.have a question, please? Pardon? Could we have a question, please?
:25:11. > :25:16.Can I repeat Mr Deputy Speaker where I because in the middle of a
:25:17. > :25:21.question? Could I have a question please shortly or we will move on. I
:25:22. > :25:26.will tell you what, Deputy Speaker, I will sit down. I don't lie the way
:25:27. > :25:29.you are doing. This OK. Well, back in the chair this
:25:30. > :25:37.morning, the Speaker, William Hay, referred to an "incident" last week.
:25:38. > :25:42.I want to put on record my concerns about an exchange that took place
:25:43. > :25:47.between a member and a Deputy Speaker during Question Time last
:25:48. > :25:53.Tuesday. I have to say Hansard on this particular issue is not good
:25:54. > :25:56.reading. It is not that long ago I reminded the House that the
:25:57. > :26:01.authority of the chair is always the same, regardless of who is presiding
:26:02. > :26:05.over business in the chamber. Members think that because I'm not
:26:06. > :26:10.in the chair, they can be discourteous to Deputy Speakers and
:26:11. > :26:16.challenge their rulings, they need to think again. Members though that
:26:17. > :26:20.if they stray from the normal rules, they can expect whoever is in the
:26:21. > :26:27.chair to intervene. The chair gives a direction, it should be respected.
:26:28. > :26:33.And should not be challenged at any time. Certainly I will be keeping a
:26:34. > :26:38.very close eye on this particular issue. Our political reporter,
:26:39. > :26:44.Stephen Walker, is with me. What is this row all about? We can only
:26:45. > :26:56.assume it is about that encounter that we just witnessed between
:26:57. > :27:03.individuals. We can only assume it was this encounter between Roy Beggs
:27:04. > :27:06.and David McNarry. What we do know, and David McNarry confirmed this, he
:27:07. > :27:11.was trying to ask a question during the finance questions. There was a
:27:12. > :27:16.preamble and Roy Beggs pushed him to come up with a question. I suppose
:27:17. > :27:21.David McNarry was frustrated and he sat down and he complained about the
:27:22. > :27:25.way he was being treated. And we had this intervention today from the
:27:26. > :27:29.Speaker, saying there needs to be respect for the authority of the
:27:30. > :27:34.chair. It is all a bit of a storm in a tea cup, but you get these things
:27:35. > :27:39.in the cut and thrust of the debate. Nuclear tr nuclear -- David McNarry
:27:40. > :27:46.believes that the reference was to him. Is he remorseful about Roy
:27:47. > :27:50.Beggs? He feels he was being respectful, that there was a
:27:51. > :27:54.preamble, and he was getting to his question, so he feels he was
:27:55. > :27:59.behaving properly. Not the first time that the Speaker has issued a
:28:00. > :28:04.warning to members. No, we had a warning last year when a number of
:28:05. > :28:12.members were named, and a warning in 2010, so these things happen from
:28:13. > :28:17.time to time. Willie Hay was making it clear there is a code and members
:28:18. > :28:23.should abide by it. He said some members are more respectful to him
:28:24. > :28:27.than they are to Deputy Speakers. He said it doesn't matter who sits in
:28:28. > :28:31.the chair, there has to be respect. And the bottom line is the Speaker
:28:32. > :28:34.is right even when he is wrong? That's always the joke isn't it?
:28:35. > :28:38.David McNarry says he is going to have a conversation with the
:28:39. > :28:41.speaker. The speaker has made his position clear, that he wants
:28:42. > :28:45.respect from the members. I don't suspect there'll be a meeting of
:28:46. > :28:50.minds during that meeting. You would like to be a fly on the wall
:28:51. > :28:54.wouldn't you? That's it for tonight. Join me again tomorrow at 11.20pm on
:28:55. > :28:57.BBC Two. Until then, from everyone in the team, good night.