The UUP is at risk of a meltdown comparable to the DUP’s month of madness after Edwin Poots was briefly elected leader. As has since been largely forgotten Poots won by promising to purge head office staff, seen as too powerful and unaccountable by many DUP members and representatives.
Doug Beattie’s resignation as UUP leader has exposed similar tensions between party officers and the rank and file. This parallel only goes so far: DUP members were aggrieved about a handful of unelected officials; UUP members are split over their party officer board, comprising party grandees and elected representatives, while the board is less than united itself.
Disagreements across the party appear to be political, personal and factional. It is a potentially bigger mess than the DUP and harder to brush back under the rug.
The favourite to succeed Beattie is former leader Mike Nesbitt, yet Nesbitt demonstrated the same flaw during his time at the helm that caused UUP officers to despair over Beattie: formulating half-baked policies on the hoof. The classic example was his ‘vote Mike, get Colum’ quasi-partnership with the SDLP, announced without approval from his own party or the SDLP. Even Beattie never extemporised to this extent.
Although the UUP is unlikely to ditch its next leader after a month, regretting its choice after a month is another matter.
Disagreements across the Ulster Unionist Party appear to be political, personal and factional. It is a potentially bigger mess than the DUP and harder to brush back under the rug
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Prime minister Keir Starmer visited Northern Ireland to condemn racist violence and support the police. Chief constable Jon Boutcher took the opportunity to mention the PSNI’s funding shortfall, which he has estimated at £140 million this year, on top of his £800 million Stormont grant.
“Mainly that’s a devolved issue,” the prime minister later told reporters, “but nonetheless we have had that discussion about what further support can go in”.
Being English, both men will presumably have thought of the policing precept, the charge added to council tax bills in England and Wales, which funds a third of police budgets. It is set by police and crime commissioners so varies from region to region but on average it was £270 per household last year.
Both will then have dismissed the thought out of hand. Can you imagine such a thing here?
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Going over Stormont’s head earned the chief constable a rebuke from the Alliance-controlled Department of Justice. A leaked letter from its most senior official, written in consultation with the Sinn Féin-controlled Department of Finance, reminded Jon Boutcher “there are certain protocols which must be followed when engaging with the UK Government on matters of funding”.
“It is my view that you have acted outside the well-established financial protocols that are in place for Accounting Officers in Northern Ireland,” the letter concluded.
This argument has been brewing for some time. Last December, Boutcher told the Policing Board he would exceed his budget to give officers a 7 per cent pay award and “if I have to step into a position where I am breaching my Accounting Officer responsibilities and the Board and the Department of Justice decide they will have to sanction me, then we will get into that territory if we need to.”
In March, a 7 per cent pay award was agreed by the department.
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A criminal investigation is underway into three police officers for driving offences related to GAA celebrations in Camlough last month. This news has made headlines and caused confusion, as chief constable Jon Boutcher said at the time “let me be crystal clear, no one is being suspended or dismissed”.
He has now said “nothing has changed”.
Former assistant chief constable Alan McQuillan called the investigation “utter nonsense” that should have been “dealt with by a simple discussion with a supervisor.”
Instead, it is clearly being dealt with by going through the motions and passing the buck. If a file is sent to the Public Prosecution Service, prosecutors will have to decide whether to pursue minor penalties or simply not bother.
Either way, no officer will be suspended or dismissed. The main thing is that none of their superiors have to take responsibility for declaring a controversy to be utter nonsense. That also never changes.
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Redevelopment of the Maze Long Kesh site is back on the agenda, immediately and inevitably resurrecting the row over a ‘terrorist shrine’ at the former prison. To have any hope of better progress this time, it is worth recalling why the peace project stalled in 2013. DUP leader Peter Robinson’s infamous ‘letter from America’, withdrawing his party’s support for the scheme, was effectively forced upon him by a gratuitous IRA memorial parade in Castlederg. If republicans stir the pot again, history will almost certainly repeat itself.
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Scottish brewery BrewDog is to open its first Northern Ireland bar in Belfast’s new Grand Central Station. The announcement has raised eyebrows as the company has been involved in several controversies over marketing and working conditions.
Competition is also fierce for the fixed number of liquor licences under Northern Ireland’s archaic licensing system. However, nobody seems be asking whether it is a good idea to have any bar in a public transport terminal.
Drunken behaviour on trains and buses is already a menace and there is a growing debate on the wisdom of selling alcohol in airports. At least railways in Britain have their own police force, the British Transport Police. When trouble breaks out on Northern Ireland Railways, staff and passengers are on their own.
Drunken behaviour on trains and buses is already a menace and there is a growing debate on the wisdom of selling alcohol in airports... When trouble breaks out on Northern Ireland Railways, staff and passengers are on their own
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The PSNI has released aerial footage of people parking and walking along M1 hard shoulders and slip-roads in Belfast, following a concert at the Boucher Road playing fields. Tickets and a public warning have been issued.
The great unmentionable is that similar and indeed worse scenes used to accompany major events at Casement Park and presumably would do again, as the redevelopment plans include parking for just 240 cars, enough to deliver around 1,000 people to the 34,500 seat venue. Telling people to take the Glider is unrealistic, even for Belfast residents. The service’s total capacity at peak frequency is 735 people per hour. It is fair to suspect that special provision for motorway parking will end up being made - our own little taste of post-Brexit Dover.
