Secretary of State Hilary Benn was fully entitled yesterday to stress the requirement for the Stormont executive to engage in a comprehensive reform of public services which will inevitably involve a range of difficult decisions.
Many issues were put on hold during the latest suspension of our devolved structures, which was caused by yet another Brexit-related debacle, lasted for fully two years and only came to an end 12 months ago.
There can be no doubt that there has been a frustrating lack of general progress, whether ministers were in or out of office, and there will be a firm expectation that developments will finally start to unfold in the coming months.
It was reasonable for Mr Benn to declare that the three main challenges were delivering the reforms of public service, maintaining the smooth flow of goods across the UK and encouraging long-term and sustainable economic growth.
As the British government’s senior representative in Belfast, it was also understandable he should insist that a lack of funding from Westminster “is not the impediment to public service transformation”.
Many observers will still point out in reply that over the decades there has been a prolonged under-investment in the various Stormont departments which has had serious consequences for all sections of our divided society.
It must be accepted at the same time that the crisis in our health service in particular goes well beyond the basic allocation of finances, and it is completely essential that the existing structures are fundamentally overhauled.
Mr Benn went out of his way to praise the role of the DUP, saying the party had displayed “courage and commitment” by returning to the executive in February of last year.
Mr Benn’s suggestion that politicians should focus on ensuring the union improves the lives of all communities ignored the reality that the unionist majority at Stormont is gone
It needs to be emphasised that the DUP should never have walked out in the first place, and has been responsible for one appalling misjudgment after another since it was foolish enough to initially endorse the anti-EU obsessions of right-wing Conservatives.
Read more: John Manley: One year on: Stormont executive action fails to meet public expectations
While the secretary of state may well have felt that he should placate the DUP after last month flatly declining its bizarre attempt to implement what is known as the Stormont brake over some obscure changes to EU rules on the packaging of chemicals, there was also a wider unionist tone to his speech yesterday.
His suggestion that politicians should focus on ensuring the union improves the lives of all communities ignored the reality that the unionist majority at Stormont is gone and will not be coming back.
Mr Benn should remember that he should offer equal respect to the aspirations of nationalists, unionists and the constitutionally unaligned during all the complex debates which lie ahead.
If you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article and would like to submit a Letter to the Editor to be considered for publication, please click here
Letters to the Editor are invited on any subject. They should be authenticated with a full name, address and a daytime telephone number. Pen names are not allowed.
