Agreement in jeopardy after Stormont vote

Posted by Jim on May 30, 2015

Crisis talks are to take place between the main political parties in the
North this week in a bid to revive the Stormont House Agreement and
sustain the political institutions in Belfast.

The meeting, hosted by the Dublin and London governments will be held at
Stormont House on Tuesday, is being described as a “review” of the
agreement.

It is not clear whether DUP First Minister Peter Robinson — who is
recovering from a reported cardiac arrest — will be well enough to
attend the meeting.

On Tuesday, key welfare reform legislation insisted upon by the London
government was rejected in the Stormont assembly. Using a petition of
concern, the two nationalist parties, Sinn Fein and the SDLP, vetoed the
legislation after it was discovered that the cuts would hurt the most
vulnerable in society.

Sinn Fein said top-up schemes designed to protect welfare recipients
were not as comprehensive as they had been led to believe in December’s
negotiations, and accused unionists of acting in bad faith.

There had been suggestions that the assembly could collapse within days
after the welfare legislation was rejected, although those were quickly
discounted. However, the crisis deepened further on Thursday when the
parties failed to agree a budget for next year’s public spending.

The DUP has now set a new deadline and warned if the government does not
step in, the assembly will collapse by the end of July. DUP deputy
leader Nigel Dodds said the British government must take control of
welfare powers if nationalists do not accept the planned cuts.

“It is not sustainable to have this level of damage caused to our public
services by parties because they are not prepared to take practical and
sensible financial decisions,” he said.

Sinn Fein said its concern was not just about welfare, but the
implications of further cuts threatened by the Tories as part of a 25
billion pound reduction to be outlined in the July budget.

The cuts – which have been described as ‘eye watering’ by the Tories
themselves – will affect the most vulnerable and lead to the loss of
thousands of jobs within vital frontline services such as health and
education.

Sinn Fein Deputy Martin McGuinness said they “formed absolutely no part”
of the discussions which led to the Stormont House Agreement.

“Last week, I spoke to someone who had recently discussed with Downing
Street officials the extent of what is facing us. He said he could only
describe it in one word – brutal,” he said.

Sinn Fein has also expressed concern at plans by the Conservatives to
scrap the 1998 Human Rights Act, considered an integral part of the Good
Friday Agreement, and to hold a referendum on membership of the European
Union, which could dramatically reinforce the partition of the island.

Mr McGuinness said the crisis facing the Stormont parties was not of
their making.

“The Tories received only 9,000 votes in the north, just over one per
cent of the vote,” he said.

“This is a party, which doesn’t have a single Assembly or local council
seat. They have no democratic mandate for their austerity policies in
the north of Ireland.

“Yet they have already taken 1.5 billion pounds from the Executive’s
block grant. And Cameron’s cabinet of Tory millionaires have announced
plans for further cuts of 25 billion pounds to our public services and
to welfare protections for people with disabilities, the long-term sick
and large families.”

He said representatives from Stormont should join a meeting of the
representatives of the Scottish and Welsh local Assemblies to develop a
common position.

“The current crisis has come about solely through the actions of the
British government. It can only be resolved by the actions of the
British government.”