Minister’s ‘ignorance’ of sectarian divisions
KAREN Bradley was accused of ‘embarrassing’ ignorance last night as she admitted not understanding the sectarian divide before being made Ulster Secretary.
In an extraordinary confession, she confessed she did not realise that Unionists would not vote for nationalist parties during elections, and vice versa.
Mrs Bradley said it was not until after she was appointed to the crucial Cabinet job in January that she learned about the situation.
In an interview with The House magazine, Mrs Bradley said she was unaware Unionists and nationalists competed for support within their communities, rather than trying to hoover up the other side’s votes.
The political battles during elections are between the nationalist parties – Sinn Fein and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). On the other side of the divide, the Unionist parties – mainly the DUP and Ulster Unionists – try to win votes off each other.
Mrs Bradley said: ‘I freely admit that, when I started this job, I didn’t understand some of the deep-seated and deep-rooted issues there are.’
The minister’s teenage years covered some of the most high-profile events of the Troubles.
She was 14 when the IRA bombed the Tory conference in Brighton in 1984 and 17 when the terror group murdered 12 in a blast in Enniskillen in 1987. The Omagh atrocity in 1998, which killed 29, happened when she was 28 – the same year the Good Friday Agreement was signed.
Labour’s Brexit spokesman Jenny Chapman said: ‘This is embarrassing from the Northern Ireland Secretary. Given this worrying lack of basic knowledge about Northern Ireland’s history, it’s no wonder the Tories don’t seem to understand the vital importance of preventing a return of a hard border there.’
Lib Dem MP Tom Brake said the remarks ‘speak volumes about how much this Government misunderstands people in Northern Ireland’.
Mrs Bradley has also faced anger for failing to end the ‘witch-hunt’ of British troops who served in Northern Ireland. Up to 1,000 veterans are being treated as potential murder or manslaughter suspects.
Mrs Bradley yesterday announced the pay of Stormont Assembly members’ will be cut by more than £13,000 – about 27.5 per cent.
‘Embarrassing from the Secretary’