Hello again everyone and welcome back to my weekly politics blog. As with last week’s inaugural blog, I will begin at the parochial parish pump that is Norn Iron politics! And it doesn’t get any more parochial than a good, old fashioned dispute about FLEGS! We do love a good fleg row here, I must say! There are few places on earth as attached to their flegs as us, to be fair, and we didn’t disappoint this week. The BBC kicked it all off by displaying an info-graphic on their flagship morning news programme to highlight the differences in COVID-19 travel restrictions across the different devolved regions of the UK. Problem was, they displayed the Irish tricolour flag to represent Northern Ireland. Oh dear! DUP MP, Ian Paisley Jnr, was predictably outraged! We love a bit of maximum offence outrage in NI, too! He was straight on to the Director General of the BBC to demand a fulsome apology, which was duly given by the very contrite presenters on the same programme the following morning. Phew! Crisis averted! As the recently departed John Hume once wisely said; – “You can’t eat a flag!” Well, indeed!
I also noted this week that the Belfast City Council Planning Committee approved a final planning application for the controversial Tribeca regeneration scheme in the Cathedral Quarter area of the city. It is controversial because there have been numerous objections to it from architectural heritage and community arts based organisations that it will erase the architectural character of the area in favour of gentrified, homogeneous glass fronted corporate towers. What was interesting to note, however, was the fact that it was voted through on the committee with DUP and SF votes only. All other parties objected! I’ll leave you to work out what you think that tells us about how far apart these two parties really are when it comes to matters of the purse!
It’s been another very difficult week for the seemingly hapless Prime Minister, Boris Johnston. The government’s Covid response has come in for more criticism after their confusing and contradictory implementation of local lockdowns in Bolton and elsewhere. Maybe they should consult with the local authorities in those affected areas a bit more? Or, does that just sound too much like common sense?
Boris Johnson has also been accused of breaking the Government’s own social distancing rules after at least 50 Tory MPs packed into a room ‘cheek by jowl’ to hear him speak. The Liberal Democrats have demanded an investigation after Mr Johnson addressed the MPs in a committee room on Wednesday night, despite a sign on the door warning only 29 people should be in the room to stop the spread of coronavirus. Just 40 minutes after the meeting finished, the prime minister’s office tweeted a warning that gatherings of more than 30 people were banned under social distancing rules. Hypocrisy much?
To top it all, poor Boris was absolutely annihilated at the Dispatch Box by Keir Starmer in PMQ’s this week! Boris was censured by the speaker for consistently refusing to answer questions, then, was reprimanded for accusing Starmer of supporting the IRA, by virtue of being in the same shadow cabinet as Jeremy Corbyn for a few years! Starmer quite understandably demanded a full retraction and apology for the untrue remarks. You were clutching at straws, there, Boris, and becoming more desperate to get one over on the seemingly unflappable Starmer by the week!
When Hungarian PM, Viktor Orban, forced a law through parliament undermining the independence of the country’s judiciary, the EU and numerous international organisations condemned the regime’s blatant moves towards authoritarianism. When the Polish government passed a law to make it possible for judges to face disciplinary procedures if they make rulings that the government did not like, democracy and human rights watchers were also appalled. It should follow then that democratic politicians and organisations from all political traditions should be equally outraged by the UK government’s fresh attack on Judicial Review — the mechanism by which members of the public can challenge the government when it breaks the law — because, arguably, it is adopting similar authoritarian tendencies. It is fundamental to the rule of law that no one is above it, especially the government!
Unintended consequences? Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has told MSP’s that a draft Bill will be drawn up setting out the timing, terms and question for a new Scottish independence referendum. With the most recent opinion polls showing a clear majority in favour of independence, could this herald the beginning of the end for the United Kingdom as we know it?
And so to America, where it’s all been kicking off between Donald Trump and Joe Biden this week! You’d almost think there was an election on! A clearly very angry Joe Biden castigated Donald Trump after it was reported that the US president had called dead soldiers ‘losers’ and ‘suckers’. ‘If what is written is true, it’s disgusting,’ Biden said. ‘It affirms what most of us believe to be true: Donald Trump is not fit to be Commander in Chief.’
Trump reportedly made the remarks when he cancelled a visit to pay respects at an American military cemetery outside Paris in 2018. He has denied the allegations, as he routinely does, which were first reported in the Atlantic magazine. If proven to be true, however, this could severely dent Trump’s prospects for re-election. He does have some previous with this sort of thing, it has be said. He once publicly criticised his former Republican nomination rival, Senator John McCain, for being a loser because he was shot down, captured, tortured and imprisoned while serving as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam war!
In another outrageous episode, Donald Trump has suggested that people in the state of North Carolina should vote twice in the November election, once in person and once by mail, although doing so is a crime.
“Let them send it in and let them go vote,” Trump said in an interview with WECT-TV in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Wednesday when asked about the security of mail-in votes. “And if the system is as good as they say it is then obviously they won’t be able to vote” in person.
In a clear rebuke to the President, the state Attorney General, Josh Stein, tweeted; –
“President Trump outrageously encouraged” North Carolinians “to break the law in order to help him sow chaos in our election. Make sure you vote, but do NOT vote twice! I will do everything in my power to make sure the will of the people is upheld in November.” Perhaps the Donald has been speaking to Gerry Adams again? Vote early, vote often, as some used to say in NI back in the day, eh Donald?
So, that’s my blog complete for this week, folks! Consider yourselves fully updated on the latest political developments and goings on. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading! See you all next week!
The Weekly Politics Digest! 