September 23, 2008

PRIME MINISTER HAS GOT IT WRONG 

DUP Assembly Member Alastair Ross MLA has said that Prime Minister Gordon Brown got it all wrong as he addressed Assembly Members at Parliament Buildings yesterday.  

The under pressure PM used his address in the chamber to pander to republicans who are insisting on getting their way on a number of issues before allowing the Executive to meet.  

Commenting, the East Antrim representative said,  

“After a summer when people in Northern Ireland were faced with rising energy costs, employment uncertainty and a housing crisis, it is quite startling that the Prime Minister focussed his comments yesterday on policing and justice powers.  

Even more ludicrous was his assertion that US investment and permanent peace was at risk if policing powers were not devolved to Stormont immediately. This is utterly preposterous.  

Let me assure the Prime Minister, people in the community are not in hysterics about policing and justice. They are more worried about heating their homes this winter, about the education of their children and about whether or not they can afford their mortgage repayments.  

Instead of attempting to bully Unionists into the premature devolution of important powers the Prime Minister would be wiser to apply pressure on Sinn Fein who have refused to allow an Executive meeting to proceed since June!  

Sinn Fein’s playground politics do little more than frustrate the community and highlight their failures at St Andrews. The fact that they are waking up to is that policing and justice transfer can only happen when the Unionist community is ready, and the DUP have secured a triple lock veto on the transfer of these important powers.  

I hope that republican Ministers will listen to the concerns and opinions of everyone in the community, get on with the obligations of their office and allow the Executive to meet this Thursday.”