Opinion

Newton Emerson: Resigning would be the selfless thing for Paisley to do

DUP MP Ian Paisley told the House of Commons on Thursday that he was embarrassed for failing to declare luxury family holidays to Sri Lanka - but it is unlikely he will do the selfless thing and resign
DUP MP Ian Paisley told the House of Commons on Thursday that he was embarrassed for failing to declare luxury family holidays to Sri Lanka - but it is unlikely he will do the selfless thing and resign DUP MP Ian Paisley told the House of Commons on Thursday that he was embarrassed for failing to declare luxury family holidays to Sri Lanka - but it is unlikely he will do the selfless thing and resign

WE are all familiar with the arguments for and against abstentionism but it can no longer be argued that avoiding the Commons makes no practical difference.

Sinn Féin tried that argument again on Monday after DUP and Tory Brexiteers won votes by a margin of just three - Sinn Féin said that if its seven MPs had turned up it would only have galvanised all Conservatives into rallying behind the government.

Perhaps, but on Tuesday the government won a vote of confidence by just six, despite unprecedented Tory whipping and the help of four Labour defectors.

We have now entered a phase of Brexit and government weakness in which one vote really can make a difference - as it did in 1979, when Labour fell over the 'abstentionism in person' of Fermanagh republican Frank Maguire.

**

The DUP is now one vote down, with Ian Paisley's suspension from the Commons for not declaring a paid holiday and associated lobbying.

The suspension lasts for an extraordinary 30 sitting days, taking it up to the third week of November, when Brexit voting will have reached a crescendo.

The selfless thing for Paisley to do would be to resign and have a DUP replacement elected in time for serious Brexit business resuming in the Autumn. It is fair to say that seems unlikely.

Paisley's lawyer says he is "considering" legal action against the Daily Telegraph over how the story was originally broken, reminding London's media and political establishment that Northern Ireland's unreformed libel laws remain a national menace.

**

In a further slide towards direct rule, secretary of state Karen Bradley is to pass a law in Westminster to reconstitute the Policing Board, as the terms of its nine independent members are running out and only a Stormont justice minister can appoint replacements.

The 10 political members are a more curious story. They have not taken their seats since Stormont collapsed, yet any or all of them could do so.

The DUP proved as much this week when it nominated former MLA Nelson McCausland to the Education Authority, where the system for political appointees is much the same.

Stormont vetoes mean Sinn Féin and the DUP can legitimately accuse each other, and be accused by others, of blocking an executive for everyone.

That does not explain why no party has turned up at the Policing Board for the past 18 months, even if only to highlight the absence of others.

**

Prime minister Theresa May has spent two days in Northern Ireland conducting photo-ops and meaningless listening exercises over her Brexit plan - as if anything said at such events could change that plan one iota.

This ludicrous waste of time only highlights that May is not planning to attend next week's meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, a key institution of the Good Friday Agreement left inexplicably dormant for 11 years, and only finally convened to address the collapse of Stormont after months of pleading from Dublin.

The Agreement requires the Conference to meet regularly in both ministerial and summit format, with the UK and Irish prime ministers attending summits.

After so long in abeyance, and 18 months without devolution, a summit is clearly required - but next week will be the lesser ministerial format, with the British government represented only by the minister for the cabinet office and the secretary of state.

As a final absurdity, the meeting will take place in London, yet May still cannot be bothered to stick her head around the door.

**

Orange Order Grand Secretary the Rev Mervyn Gibson says it will be at least "a generation" before his organisation meets Sinn Féin.

This unwittingly recalls DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds's 2006 statement, at the time of the St Andrews agreement, that it would be at least "a generation" before Sinn Féin had any say in policing.

That generation lasted six months.

**

The Department for Infrastructure is refusing to disclose the cost of last week's bonfire removal operation in east Belfast, on the grounds the information is commercially sensitive.

Under the Freedom of Information Act this excuse would only normally apply if there was a competitive market in hiring ex-squaddies in balaclavas to remove loyalist pallets with unmarked vehicles.

That does not appear to be the case - yet, anyway. The contractor was almost certainly able to name their price.

Commercial information can also be withheld if it constitutes a 'trade secret'. It might be more accurate to think of this instance as an official trade secret.

**

The industrial firework attack last Friday evening on the official residences of Gerry Adams and Bobby Storey produced a sparkler of speculation from Conor Heaney, special adviser to Sinn Féin MEP Martina Anderson.

"Lack of condemnation by unionists including Karen Bradley and the Tories, speaks volumes," he tweeted the next day. "Who are some of these characters working for"?

This was particularly unfair to the secretary of state. The reason the Northern Ireland Office does not issue press releases at the weekend is because after Friday lunchtime, civil servants will not work for anyone.

newton@irishnews.com