Monday 2 May 2016

Stormont Election 2016


Questions for candidates in North Antrim.


Since returning to Northern Ireland in 1997 I‘ve be living at the end of a very long lane. In these past 19 years no politician has ever wandered down my long winding lane to solicit a vote from me. I do not take this personal as they could probably canvas about 20 individuals on their door steps in the time it would take to visit me.  I nevertheless do feel a bit disadvantaged as I don’t get to quiz the election candidates on some important issues. The postman does make it down my lane and does deliver some propaganda literature from some of the candidates. But they are usually an unconvincing read and to date don’t seem to address all the important issues. So I thought I would make it easier for the candidates, who I’m sure would love to get a vote from me – or anybody else.
I’m asking the election candidates for North Antrim to respond to 3 questions online and I will use any answers I receive to decide how to vote. I am working out my own point scoring system based on answers I receive, or don’t receive.  I can fully appreciate just how busy they all must be so I’ve made it simple by just requesting YES or NO answers.

1/ The first issue is something that many candidates will argue has nothing to do with regional elections. For me however it is important to understand where each candidate stands on the EU Referendum. This referendum will be the most crucial vote that we will have to make in our lifetime. It is arguably more of an issue for Westminster than Stormont but I want to know where each candidate stands before I cast my vote.  I can’t recall what decisions, if any, were made by the last Stormont government, and regardless of what decisions they may, or may not, make in the next few years it will remain the case that most important decisions which affect Northern Ireland will either be made in Westminster, or in Brussels:  as is presently the case. I therefore want to be sure that any politician I may help elect has the wherewithal to understand the complexities of our current membership of the EU. I am particularly interested to know if they are prepared to vote according to their personal beliefs over party policies on this issue.
The basic question is: will you be supporting Brexit and voting Leave on June 23rd?
[Note: candidates who get this question right will get extra points]


2/ One of the fundamentals of accountable, transparent, democratic government is official opposition.

 Do you enthusiastically support the establishment of an Official Opposition Coalition and would you be willing to join such a voluntary coalition: to hold to account the current mandatory coalition that controls Stormont?

3/ The issue of Anti- Abortion versus Pro-choice issue is massive in Northern Ireland. This is because our politicians want to have different laws here than we have in the rest of the UK. This means that hundreds of young women travel to Britain each year because they believe that their unwanted pregnancy will be seriously detrimental to their lives. It is also the case where some women in this position, who can’t afford the travel costs, terminate their pregnancies illegally. They can be criminalised for this.
I do understand those politicians who, due to deeply held religious convictions, want to have separate laws in Northern Ireland. There is some validity in the claim that the UK 1967 Abortion Act is abused to some extent on the mainland. But the current situation in Northern Ireland is ludicrous: it is legal for a woman to travel to any other part of the UK to have an abortion and yet she cannot get one in her part of the UK. This deprives many Northern Irish women of basic British rights and freedom of choice.  The current political stalemate is causing division and bitterness.
 I believe Stormont should look at implementing the 1967 Abortion Act while those who have difficulties with aspects of it campaign to have the act amended throughout the UK. Surely from a Christian perspective this would be a more worthy plan of action than just simply accepting the status quo for Northern Ireland in isolation? Surely Christian values are as just as important in other parts of the UK as they are here? Surely the life of the ‘unborn child’ is just as important in the mainland as it is in Northern Ireland?


So basic question is: would you support the possibility of adopting the UK’s 1967 Abortion Act in Northern Ireland - if appropriate amendments could be made to that act in the rest of the UK?
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1 comment:

  1. Kathryn Johnston3 May 2016 at 02:34

    The answer to your first question about Brexit, if I will vote to leave the EU and if I am prepared to defy my official party line on Europe.
    Labour Party policy nationally is in favour of staying in Europe. But as you point out, the question of Europe will be decided at a referendum, and is not subject to a Parliamentary/Assembly vote. Each one of us can vote according to our own beliefs and conscience, in exactly the same way that the question of the border has been taken out of everyday politics here by the Belfast Agreement, which should be encouraging all the parties here to concentrate of the issues which affect all of us, like cuts to jobs and services, instead of red herrings like flags and borders.
    Personally, I am inclined to support an In vote. However, that doesn't mean that I am uncritical of the European Union. I would support major reform of EU institutions, but that is a question for a longer debate in another forum. What I would like to mention here is the dangers of The Transatalantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). TTIP is 'an outrageous corporate power grab' which will increase the international monopoly of the US and major international corporations and will weaken the power of consumers, lessen environmental controls and increase global poverty. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ttip-leak-could-spell-the-end-of-controversial-trade-deal-say-campaigners-a7009896.html
    Yes, NILRC support the establishment of an Official Opposition Coalition. Our manifesto is actually called 'A Manifesto for an Opposition'. Here is an extract from it. 'Opposition is not negative, niggardly or begrudging; it is on the contrary a wholesome and necessary part of a healthy democracy. We have therefore no hesitation about being emphatic in insisting that the best contribution we can make to the life of our province is as a critical opposition both within and outside the Assembly. At the same time we will be seeking to build up support for our own policies. Most of the business of the Assembly is set by the Executive. The role of the opposition is consequently a re-active role. To date, with rare exceptions, back bench members of the Assembly have shown little evidence of the tenacity needed to hold ministers and the administration to account. We will be different. We believe that we have already shown that we will take difficult decisions, will not kowtow to authority – even in our own party – but will be fearless in standing up for what we believe is right.'
    Yes, NILRC support the possibility of adopting the UK’s 1967 Abortion Act in Northern Ireland. We #trustwomen. It is a nonsense that women who can afford to travel to England from NI and pay for a termination are free to do so, while those in NI who cannot afford this, yet who try to access medications freely available in parts of the UK are prosecuted and vilified in the press. Reproductive rights here have become a class issue, instead of the health issue they should be. NILRC support immediate reform of the Assembly guidelines here to remove the 'chill factor' of uncertainty which at present shrouds the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act and criminalises women, medical staff and advisory agencies. We would immediately add crisis pregnancy in the cases of rape and incest to the Minister's current proposed guidelines to allow limited terminations in the case of fatal foetal abnormalities. NILRC believe in a women's right to choose free, safe, legal abortion. As our President, Baroness May Blood, pointed out, ‘If I give women in Newcastle upon Tyne the right to have an abortion then I should give it to Newcastle in County Down. It’s her choice.’

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