Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
AT LAST THEY’RE PAYING THE PRICE
After 599 days without an Assembly & more than £6.6million of your money going down the drain..
SECRETARY of State Karen Bradley finally plucked up the courage to cut MLA pay yesterday.
She slashed their €49,000 wages by £13,000 in a move which puts pressure on the DUP and Sinn Fein to resume power-sharing talks.
Since Stormont was suspended 20 months ago, Assembly members have picked up more than £6.6million.
But Mrs Bradley was accused of distraction tactics. Abuse campaigner Margaret Mcguckin said: “This is Direct Rule in all but name.”
Secretary of State takes action over £49k salaries Claims move was timed to distract from RHI probe
PLANS to cut MLAS’ pay were welcomed yesterday but were also met with accusations they were timed as a distraction.
There were claims the move was aimed at diverting attention from the RHI inquiry and an upcoming court case which could have forced the Secretary of State to call an election.
Karen Bradley announced Stormont Assembly members’ pay will be slashed by more than £13,000 as the Government announced renewed efforts to restore devolved power-sharing between the warring political parties.
But Sinn Fein’s Conor Murphy said she was “acting under duress” in a plan “cobbled together at the last moment”.
Mrs Bradley imposed the salary cut with the Assembly having been in cold storage for a record-breaking 20 months and said public representatives were not performing all their functions.
MLAS’ staff wages will not be affected and she will bring forward legislation to give civil servants more power to make decisions.
However, Mr Murphy was “bemused by talks of a talks process”.
The Newry and Armagh MLA added his party have “heard nothing” and claimed the threat of a court-ordered election had “prompted Karen Bradley to act”.
DUP leader Arlene Foster welcomed the move, but laid the blame for the political impasse “wholly with Sinn Fein’s decision to boycott the Assembly, Executive and the House of Commons”.
She added: “The DUP was able to deliver an additional £1.5billion for Northern Ireland.
“It is deeply frustrating and utterly careless Sinn Fein has decided to block government for almost 600 days.
“Whilst only a small step towards decisions being made, we welcome the statement from the Secretary of State.
“Ultimately, Northern Ireland needs a ministerial decision-making mechanism which respects democracy.”
Alliance leader Naomi Long tweeted: “Not before time.”
And SDLP chief Colum Eastwood said: “The two governments, as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, need to meet urgently to agree a package of legislation to get Stormont back up and running.
“We cannot continue in this political abyss. The public is sick and tired of seeing banners and finger-pointing between the DUP and Sinn Fein.
“They need ministers in place and a functioning Assembly to take decisions and responsibility for schools, a struggling health service and the evergrowing threat of a no-deal Brexit.”
TUV leader Jim Allister added it was “about time”.
He said: “However, continuing to duck her responsibility to govern, planning to legitimise decisionmaking by civil servants, demonstrates, again, a lack of mettle.
“It is the appointment of ministers accountable to Parliament that is required, not the poor substitute of empowering unelected civil servants.”
Mrs Bradley earlier told Parliament: “While Assembly members continue to perform valuable constituency functions, it is clear during any such interim period they will not be performing the full range of their legislative functions.
“So, in parallel, I will take the steps necessary to reduce Assembly members’ salaries in line with the recommendations made by Trevor Reaney.” He proposed the 27.5% cut, a move that would take the standard salary rate of £49,500 down to £35,888 in two stages, beginning in November with a further cut three months later.
Mrs Bradley said she had also decided not to call new Stormont elections.
She will instead bring forward legislation to allow civil servants to make decisions in the absence of ministers as public reforms like improving the efficiency of the electricity network across Ireland have stalled.
The Secretary of State is to hold talks with the political parties in the next few
weeks about re-establishing formal power-sharing negotiations and has not ruled out appointing an external mediator to help break the deadlock.
Lawyers for Mrs Bradley are due at the High Court today to ask for an adjournment of next week’s judicial review taken by survivors involved in the Historical Abuse Inquiry.
The case regards their efforts to get compensation as recommended by the Harte Report, but which has been delayed by the lack of an Executive. One element of the case was that no one had the power to implement the redress scheme as the Secretary of State had not called fresh elections.
Campaigner Margaret Mcguckin said: “This is Direct Rule in all but name. Without our judicial review this would never have happened and she would have sat on aimlessly doing nothing.”
Human rights solicitor Claire Mckeegan tweeted it was “very obvious” an announcement before Monday’s hearing was aimed at getting the Secretary of State “off the hook regarding her duty to call an election”.