Further to my previous blog on the new levels of nonsense contained within the Assembly’s decision to waste time debating foreign affairs, over which it has no say, I now understand that a special plenary has been called for tomorrow to, er, discuss it further!
I don’t remember a single person during the last election campaign raising Gaza. I do remember them raising plenty of things dealt with by the Assembly (despite the fact it was a Westminster campaign) – the chaos in the education system, inappropriate social care provision, the inadequacy of local planning arrangements, the failure to create jobs not dependent on ever decreasing government funding, (genuine) fuel poverty, and even speed humps. Yet apparently none of these is worthy of so much as a plenary debate in the Assembly (which actually sets the legislation and policy concerning all of them), let alone a “special” one!
A debate on Gaza is utterly meaningless and deliberately divisive. This kind of thing makes a mockery of devolution and the very generious salaries and expenses MLAs are paid to work it.
[...] For Ian Parsley, the whole episode has caused collateral damage to the public image of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Convening the Chamber for a special sitting was a flawed decision, says Ian. [...]
[...] For Ian Parsley, the whole episode has caused collateral damage to the public image of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Convening the Chamber for a special sitting was a flawed decision, says Ian. [...]