Welcome back to Blog 8 of my Weekly Digest. The weekly roundup of selected political news from Northern Ireland, UK and the US. There’s plenty to pack in to this week’s instalment, again, so let’s not waste any time and dive right in there to those shark infested political waters, if we dare?
Edwin Poots is one big fish who has found himself in deep water this week. He has been accused of embarking on a spectacular solo-run from the NI Executive over their response to the current Covid-19 upsurge, thereby dispelling any enduring myths that there is ever any sense of collective responsibility up at good ship Stormont.
The Lagan Valley MLA and Minister of Agriculture, took to the airwaves to openly criticise the Executive’s decision to impose a 4-week ‘circuit breaker’ set of restrictions on NI. Of course, ministerial solo runs are nothing new to a historically dysfunctional, multi-party executive, but this one carried the added caveat that there was a blatant attempt by Mr Poots to sectarianise the issue, when claiming that nationalist areas were more acutely affected than unionist areas! Again, this is not something which has been entirely alien to NI politics over the years! However, it is particularly disheartening to think that not even an existential crisis such as a global pandemic can bring our politicians together in a spirit of collegiality and common purpose. 🤦🏻♂️
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood derided his comments as “pathetic” and called on DUP leader Arlene Foster to “rein him in immediately before he does any further damage to the public health messaging”. Ulster Unionist leader Steven Aiken also said Mr Poots “..should do the honourable thing and consider his position as an Executive Minister. He can’t have his cake and eat it; he can’t be in government and opposition at the same time.” Alliance justice minister Naomi Long also said “no-one voted against those regulations” and appealed for people to pull together, while a Sinn Féin spokesman described the remarks as “an absolute disgrace and entirely misleading”.
Speaking of a lack of collective responsibility, let’s not assume that this only applies to Edwin Poots, to be fair. Apparently, the three minor partners within the NI Executive, the SDLP, UUP and APNI, were only informed about the full extent of the raft of new Covid restrictions minutes before they were announced to the press, despite there being broad consensus in a previous Executive meeting!
It seems that petty party politics comes before all else in any given situation here. Even the announcement this week that the revised plans for the long delayed Casement Park GAA stadium development were to be given the green light, wasn’t immune to a bout of petty point scoring. (If you’ll pardon the obvious GAA sporting pun!) Sinn Fein obviously warmly welcomed the announcement by the SDLP Minister, Nichola Mallon, but their thanks and praise for finally getting the planning stage of the project over the line were reserved solely for West Belfast SF MP, Paul Maskey, rather than Ms Mallon! It simply wouldn’t do to give a rival party any credit for a good news story, now, would it? 🙄
There may be an ill wind blowing for Arlene Foster! On Tuesday the Audit Office published an 80-page report into the Northern Ireland Renewables Obligation (NIRO), a huge renewable electricity subsidy for wind turbines with which current First Minister, Arlene Foster was heavily involved in her previous Ministerial role. As with RHI, this subsidy was, for the most part, not funded by Northern Ireland. The Audit Office calculates that of the potential £5bn bill for the 20-year scheme, three quarters of it will come from GB electricity bill payers. I’m sure the average English voter in the shires will be delighted to hear they are subsidising yet another NI based renewable sinkhole for their hard earned taxes!
Even the Daily Mail, the newspaper of choice for Tory voting middle England, ran a double page spread on this story last week. They reckoned that one turbine near Ballymena generated around £48,000 worth of electricity last year but was also entitled to a whopping £287,000 in subsidies, meaning it will have paid for itself as much as three times over since being installed in 2017. This is RHI on steroids! Somehow, I don’t think we have heard the end of this one, not by a long shot! The sums involved are simply too eye wateringly vast to ignore and I’m not sure if Mrs Foster or her infamous SPAD, Andrew Crawford, can avoid being blown away if found culpable in another scandal of this magnitude! Watch this space!
A couple of hours after a stony faced Boris Johnson had addressed the nation this week to announce his 3 Tier Covid intervention plan, the minutes of a previous SAGE meeting were released, which showed the scientific advisers had called for a “rapid intervention”, including a short “circuit breaker” form of national lockdown three weeks previously!
“The more rapidly interventions are put in place, and the more stringent they are, the faster the reduction in incidence and prevalence and the greater the reduction in Covid-related deaths,” the minutes read. Added to that, SAGE also noted the well publicised problems with the Test and Trace system meant it was only having a ‘marginal’ impact on controlling the virus!
This is all highly damaging for the government, which is already reeling over its overall handling of the Covid-19 crisis from the outset. This certainly dispels any lingering notion that No.10 are ‘following the science’ when developing their ongoing Covid strategy! It’ll all end in ‘tiers’!
A former government race advisor has claimed that the PM has “no initiatives” to address the inequalities and prejudice faced by black people, questioning whether his new advisors even believe they exist.
Lord Woolley, ex-chair of the Government’s Race Disparity Unit, has accused Boris Johnson of wanting to “change the race narrative”, rather than addressing the systemic and endemic racism in society. In a withering critique, Lord Woolley said Mr Johnson believes people from ethnic minorities should “stop wallowing in victimhood”! He also claims that he was forced out of his role because the Prime Minister only wants people who are “demonstrably his” involved.
This could potentially be quite damaging for No.10, as they seek to respond positively to the ongoing BLM campaign in the UK, as well as fending off allegations of Islamaphobia within the Conservative Party!
Tory ministers are facing a legal challenge after failing to account for an estimated £3bn of private contracts during the Covid pandemic.
Three Labour, Lib Dem and Green MPs have now filed a Judicial Review against the government over its failure to disclose contract details quickly enough. In short, the Department of Health said £11bn of contracts had been agreed. Yet analysis of contracts data could find less than £8bn of contracts awarded by the government. So, where has the other £3bn gone? It’s not like this is just a bit of loose change, is it? Have they checked down the back of the sofa, I wonder? 🤔
With the government being so profligate with Covid contracts, the latest reports from the The Institute for Fiscal Studies would have made for painful reading. They said the scale of the Covid recession and Britain’s slow economic recovery would inflict lasting damage for the exchequer, leaving borrowing about £100bn higher by the time of the election in 2024 than forecast before the pandemic struck.
To complete yet another miserable week for Boris, he was forced to concede that no trade agreement with the EU has been forthcoming, with the clock ticking and time rapidly running out. What a time for the UK to be staring down the barrel of a no deal Brexit! 😳
It hasn’t been a great week for Sir Keir Starmer, either, in some respects, as he witnessed a series of resignations and a sizeable rebellion, as a number of Labour MPs ignored his orders and voted against new laws on undercover operatives. Sir Keir started the week well with his authoritative public address, appealing for an immediate circuit breaker lockdown from a seemingly dithering and inconsistent Tory government. But that was as good as it got for Starmer!
He had told his MPs to abstain on the third reading of the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) Bill on Thursday. But 34 Labour MPs opted to vote against the legislation as it faced its final hurdle in the House of Commons. Embarrassingly for the new Labour leader, shadow ministers Margaret Greenwood and Dan Carden, were among the rebels, leading to their resignation from their front bench roles for defying the party’s whip. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the Labour rebels also included the party’s former leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The government’s bill is aimed at protecting undercover operatives from prosecution if they are forced to break the law on operations. The legislation will cover 13 law enforcement and government agencies, including the police, the National Crime Agency, the armed forces and the Prison Service. However, critics have described the bill as a “licence for government agencies to authorise torture and murder” as there are no specific limitations on the type of criminal activity that may be authorised.
In other UK news, we’re still, remarkably, on Ferrier resign watch! Yes, SNP MP, Margaret Ferrier, still says she will not resign despite the backlash over repeatedly breaching Covid-19 rules by travelling from Glasgow to Westminster in London after developing symptoms. Even senior figures within her own party, like Nicola Sturgeon, have called for her to step down. Will ye go, lassie, go!
Okay, now for our weekly hop across the Atlantic to see what’s going on stateside. Donald Trump initially refused to take part in a virtual Presidential debate this week, saying – “They cut you off whenever they want” Well, yes, Donald, that’s what stops it turning into a ranting Trump monologue, obviously! 🤷🏻♂️
Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden were due to meet in a town hall-style showdown on Thursday night. In the end they were interviewed in different locations simultaneously, but with no direct debate between the two. The contrast between the two couldn’t have been more marked. Biden was more open to questions from his host and gave frank and fulsome responses. Trump, on the other hand, was evasive and abrasive in equal measure, which incurred the ire of his capable questioner, Savannah Guthrie.
The President was forced onto the back foot as he repeatedly refused to disavow the pro-Trump conspiracy theory group QAnon after he reposted one of their tweets earlier this week, claiming that Osama bin Laden is still alive and American Navy SEALs actually killed his body double. Sure, Donald. Must be time for your pills again, there’s a good President! 😳
After the latest round of tv appearances and campaign rallies, National polls show Biden leading President Donald Trump by double digits or more — a massive gap 20 days before Election Day.
But the Electoral College system, in which states wield influence based on a formula that ultimately corresponds to the sizes of their populations, still gives Trump hope of piecing together a slender path to the 270 votes needed to win. Let’s not forget that Trump polled nearly 3.5m votes less than Hillary Clinton last time, and still won due to winning the right key states!
Let’s look at some map graphics, courtesy of CNN, which illustrate three possible election outcomes.
One endorsement the Don could probably do without ,though, was the seal of approval given by the Taliban on Saturday, the latest incredible headline in an election campaign season with no short supply of them. I kid you not! According to CBS News; Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told them in a phone interview: “We hope he will win the election and wind up U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.” Well, with friends like that, who needs… oh, never mind!
Finally, this week’s Twitter Twit Award goes to…. yes, you guessed it, it’s the one and only king of twitter himself, Donald Trump!
The claim by President Donald Trump on Twitter that he is now “immune” to Covid-19 having survived an initial infection sparked a new wave of controversy. “A total and complete sign off from White House Doctors yesterday”, he announced to his 87 million followers. “That means I can’t get it, and can’t give it. Very nice to know!!!”
The social media channel quickly moved to censor Mr Trump’s message, saying it had violated its rules about “spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to Covid-19”, while experts labelled his claims presumptuous. As for his loyal base? Well, they’ve always thought he was superhuman anyway!
Thank you for reading, folks. All being well, I’ll back with another update next week. Until then, stay tuned in, stay informed and stay safe! 🤓👍
The Weekly Politics Digest! 