Sammy it's not about scare stories but opportunities

I do love it when I get to school my one time Economics teacher Sammy Wilson especially when it is about economics. When I read that Sammy Wilson (my teacher for the final term of 1986-7) said Loyalists were applying for Irish passports due to Brexit scare stories I had to laugh.

Sammy should know all about cost benefit analysis especially when it comes to "opportunity cost". In economics this is the value of the next-highest-valued alternative use of that resource. In this case it the cost of time on travelling on holiday. Everyone born on the island of Ireland is entitled to apply for an Irish Passport and the Good Friday Agreement allows everyone in the Northern Ireland to identify as British, Irish or Both. So there is no need for loyalists to renounce their British citizenship to get and Irish Passport.

The other thing to look at then is what people in Northern Ireland use their passport for. As photographic ID to get on flights to the rest of the UK. The UK has promised that the UK/Ireland agreement on freedom of movement will not be changed post Brexit and neither have the Irish who also want a frictionless border.

Next there is holiday flights, most short haul locations that are popular would be in the EU so there is an potential opportunity benefit in being able to go through the EU passport holders queue rather than the non-EU queue. I once had to bring a group of largely non-EU residents into the country at Dover. I whizzed straight through but as the leader of the group hung around in case there was any issues with the members of the group, all but one of the other leaders also being non-EU. I was there long after the majority of EU passengers were safely on their way. Post Brexit going to Spain, Greece, Amsterdam of anywhere else will see more scrutiny of an UK passport or at least be in a queue with people who face more scrutiny no matter what the best outcome is.

Finally there is longer-haul flights and in recent times with the improved road to Dublin and the express bus from Belfast to Dublin Airport a lot more people in Northern Ireland will fly from Dublin to America that maybe catching a flight to London and transferring. So having an Irish passport at Dublin Airport would be a breeze.

Sammy Wilson, the DUP and their Conservative friends have yet to give firm answers as to what will happen post Brexit so many people are looking at it objectively. The costs of having an Irish passport instead of a British one are negligible in monetary terms, but the benefits in terms of time outweigh any additional cost. Therefore it is economically opportune to take up an Irish passport ahead of Brexit, if things aren't worse afterwards they can always get a British one when it is time to renew but that will be based on experience rather than promising utopia in all things post-Brexit. As no matter how much Sammy et al are in cloud cuckoo land about Brexit not everything will be as it is now.

My former Teacher hasn't learnt #SammyWilsonMP #WorldAIDSDay

Once upon a time Sammy Wilson and I shared a classroom. One of our Economics teachers started a new job and for the last weeks of our first A'Level year Sammy Wilson stepped in.

Just over 15 months later I was at Kingston Polytechnic (as it then was) studying for my degree in Economics. In those early months I met a young man who was the first person I knew who was living with HIV. This was that dark old days of the 80s and ignorance was still rife about how HIV was transmitted with rumours about shaking hands, or sharing cups or toilet seats.

A couple of years later that young man moved into the house that I was living in. I shared many a chat into the small hours of the morning, listening to his concerns about the stigma he was facing, the life that he would be missing out on and the opportunities he felt he would never be able to fully realise. Those were tough, heart wrenching conversations. With hugs, cups of tea and the rest showing that the stigma was only from those who were ignorant.

Sammy Wilson has said he refuses to support World AIDS Day because "HIV is a result of lifestyle choices". The friend that I learnt my first lessons about HIV and AIDS about would snort at Sammy Wilson for saying that. His lifestyle choice that lead to him contracting HIV wasn't really a choice, he took drugs. Without the drugs he would have died. He was a haemophiliac and he had to take those drugs, it wasn't a choice. Like half of all haemophiliacs at that time he actually acquired HIV not through a lifestyle choice but though a desire to live and not bleed to death.

Of course Sammy Wilson has shown his ignorance of LGBT+ people in the past. He really thinks that the young man who sat in his A'Level class that year was happy with the realisation of his sexual orientation. The fact is that he had contemplated taking his life before Sammy stood before him in a classroom. The reason being that he couldn't chose to ignore the feeling he was having and it didn't fit with his Northern Irish, Presbyterian upbringing. That young man couldn't chose to be other than gay or bisexual. His orientation was there despite his upbringing and culture he grew up in. It was unhappy, full of bullying and a lonely place to be. It was something that back then he didn't speak to others about but he bottled it in.

Of course that young man back then is me. The message then was don't die of ignorance. The message is still the same today, sadly it is the ignorance of some of our politicians here in Northern Ireland that is the greatest risk.

Please Sammy don't let others gay, straight, children or adults die because of your ignorance about HIV.

DUP and the Death Penalty Part II

The DUP MPs David Simpson, Sammy Wilson, Jim Shannon, Gregory Campbell and Jeffrey Donaldson say they are backing a motion to discuss the return of the death penalty. They say this issue was last discussed in 1998 in Westminster in 1998 and that it was now time for the debate to be reopened.

Indeed Mr Donaldson had earlier said that he wanted it brought back for convicted terrorists. Time I think to republish a certain photo.

The issue had of course been debated in each parliament since the abolition of the death penalty up until 1998 when it was last put to the house. Ironically the last time it was amended removing the death penalty for treason, piracy and mutiny were all removed from the statute book. Of course for the Death Penalty was removed in 1965 for most of the UK except Northern Ireland when it came to an end in theNorthern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973.

The Belfast Agreement contains the following statement on policing and justice (emphasis mine):

The participants believe it essential that policing structures and arrangements are such that the police service is professional, effective and efficient, fair and impartial, free from partisan political control; accountable, both under the law for its actions and to the community it serves; representative of the society it polices, and operates within a coherent and co-operative criminal justice system, which conforms with human rights norms. The participants also believe that those structures and arrangements must be capable of maintaining law and order including responding effectively to crime and to any terrorist threat and to public order problems. A police service which cannot do so will fail to win public confidence and acceptance. They believe that any such structures and arrangements should be capable of delivering a policing service, in constructive and inclusive partnerships with the community at all levels, and with the maximum delegation of authority and responsibility, consistent with the foregoing principles. These arrangements should be based on principles of protection of human rights and professional integrity and should be unambiguously accepted and actively supported by the entire community.

We were basing a Northern Ireland that was based on norms, ironically in the same week that the final death penalties were being removed from the statute book, in July 1998.

So does Donaldson's statement indicate a unilateral removal of Northern Ireland from the EU and the European Convention on Human Rights in Protocol 6, Article 1 states:

The death penalty shall be abolished. No one shall be condemned to such penalty or executed.

There are exceptions in time of war, but the DUP are talking about a shared future therefore a peaceful future so hard to find where the war is.

The DUP are saying that one of the reasons they want the debate is "because [they] want to hear the contrary arguments." Interesting that at Stormont quite a lot of the time they refuse to hear the contrary argument (eg The Blood Ban) and make their own decisions without consultation with a contrary position to their own. Curious that the DUP are supporting the 25,000 strong petition to bring back the death penalty and not the contrary reaction based 30,000 strong petition to keep it off the statute books.

UUP take Golgafrincham approach to budgeting

"Fiscal policy!" whooped Ford Prefect, "Fiscal policy!"
The Management Consultant gave him a look that only a lungfish could have copied.
"Fiscal policy ..." he repeated, "that is what I said."
"How can you have money," demanded Ford, "if none of you actually produces anything? It doesn't grow on trees you know."
"If you would allow me to continue ..."
Ford nodded dejectedly.
"Thank you. Since we decided a few weeks ago to adopt the leaf as legal tender, we have, of course, all become immensely rich."

from Chapter 33 of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Northern Irish readers may recall that before there was a water crisis there was a budget crisis. This was resolved at the last minute before the MLAs all went home for Christmas only to find there was no water.

David McNarry the Ulster Unionis Party's (UUP) finance spokesman yesterday rejected the draft Assembly budget, that was trying to make the best out of the reduced budget that Northern Ireland, in common with Westminster departments, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly had all dealt with long ago.

Finance Minister Sammy Wilson retorted with the line echoing the above quote:

"The UUP response to the budget argues for more money for jobs, more for health, more for education but fails to indicate where this money would be found.


"Has no-one told the UUP that money doesn't grow on trees?"

Sadly for Northern Ireland another of the parts of the quote above also rings true. "How can you have money if none of you actually produces anything?" with one of the largest public sectors in the UK* of course our economy is heavily reliant on the Government provisions and funding, we don't produce much. It is something that needs to be dealt with, but sadly political point scoring over budget funds that aren't available, or bi-lingual traffic signage or whatever is the theme of the day's disagreement isn't going to cut it.

If Northern Ireland really wants to flourish as a vibrant location it needs its politicians to do some grown up politicking. It needs them to look beyond the realms of their own little interest sub-section of the community, it needs them to look to the good of the whole. The fact that each party has it's own little departmental nest egg that it wants to protect makes the budget point scoring all the more dispiriting as parties defend party lines, or their party's minister rather than looking for what is best for Northern Ireland.

* In December 2008 it was 30.8% of the workforce, down from 37% in 1998. Source Department of Finance & Personnel (2009) 2009-10 Northern Ireland Public Sector Pay and Workforce Technical Annex

DUP MLAs split 60/40 Over Justice Proposal

The DUP apparently last night were split 60/40 over the deal regarding justice that would probably have seen an end to the long negotiations that have been going on at Hillsborough Castle.

Sammy Wilson was unusually tight lipped about events (especially when compared to some of his utterances earlier in proceedings over the last 10 days):

"You have within any organisation your internal discussions (and) when you reach conclusions which impact on the public, then you go out and you give the outcome of those conclusions and that's what we did yesterday."

It would be interesting to speculate who is on which side of that internal party divide. I can think of a few names I'd expect to see firmly in one camp or the other but don't know enough about all of them to gauge the rest.

As it it the expectation is that talks will carry on for the rest of this week. So much for Brown giving them 48 hours before him imposed anything on them last Thursday.

UPDATE: Nigel Dodds has been somewhat more forthcoming not denying that 14 MLAs voted against the decision on the table last night. But saying that "first class unionist leader" who enjoyed "full support" of the party. He also said that those against had not threatened to resign, presonally I'm not too sure that last bit is the truth there is too much history of threatening to take the ball away especially from the DUP and some of it members (especially some who are former UUP elected representatives).

Northern Ireland Update

In chess terms the parties are in adjournment.

Nobody is really sure if we are in the end game, or the more complex middle game at this point. Both Sinn Féin and the DUP left in the small hours without speaking to the press. As these are the two main players we don't know what their sealed next move is going to be.

The bright news is that nobody appears to have knocked over the board yet. Although listening to the press statement from Arlene Foster and Sammy Wilson last night they seemed most likely to do so, already laying down the back story for why that would be justified.

In the meantime something more exiting watching paint dry

Devolution Bigger Than One Man

Peter Brookes in The Times 9 January 2010

Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward has insisted that the "devolution process is bigger than one man" as the DUP after expelling Iris Robinson turns its attention this week to her husband.

A Senior Free Presbyterian Minister, the church founded by Ian Paisley, the Rev David McIlveen has joined calls for the First Minister to step down saying:

"I do believe that his position is becoming increasingly untenable. He has a major problem with regard to solving his own family difficulties and I personally cannot take the view that a person's private life does not affect their public life."

So if at the end of the week Peter Robinson does step down who is liable to replace his as leader of the DUP and First Minister. There is talk of moves to make Sammy Wilson take the role as first Minister and Arlene Foster the role of party leader in a split role.

Sammy started his life with the DUP as their press officer in 1981, and shortly after was elected to Belfast City Council, a position he still holds. He was the first DUP Lord Mayor of the city in 1986/7 a position he held again in 2000/1. He's been an ever present Assembly Member being returned in the first election in 1998 for East Belfast, and for the second in 2003 for East Antrim. In 2005 he defeated Ulster Unionist Roy Beggs who had been MP for 22 years to take the Westminster seat as well with a majority of 7,304; he'd just failed to do so in 2001 by 128 votes.

Sammy entered ministerial office as Minister for the Environment, where he famously showed climate change denying tenancies with quotes such as "reasoned debate must replace the scaremongering of the green climate alarmists" and "resources should be used to adapt to the consequences of climate change, rather than King Canute-style vainly trying to stop it". After failing to introduce an independent environmental protection agency and banning a climate change advert from Northern Irish screens in February 2009, he was moved in the June 2009 to Department of Finance and Personnel.

Peter Robinson described him on his appointment as the "most qualified finance minister Northern Ireland has had in decades", with his degree in Economics and Politics from Queens, and subsequent teaching qualification for the same. Here too he has not avoided criticism this time from the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities when he said "jobs should go to people born in Northern Ireland before going to economic migrants". Also when their were attacks on Romanian people in Belfast he had said "charges of racism were always coincided with the holding out of the hand for more money".

His voting record in Westminster indicates:

• Voted a mixture of for and against a transparent Parliament.
• Voted very strongly for introducing a smoking ban.
• Voted strongly against introducing ID cards.
• Voted moderately against Labour's anti-terrorism laws.
• Voted moderately for an investigation into the Iraq war.
• Voted for replacing Trident.
• Voted moderately against equal gay rights.
• Voted strongly against laws to stop climate change.

Arlene started out life in the UUP and it was with them that she was elected in the November 2003 Assembly elections for Fermanagh and South Tyrone. However, on 5 January 2004 she along Jeffrey Donaldson and Norah Beare in joining the DUP after resigning from the UUP the month before. She became the Environment Minister in May 2007, one of her early roles was to preliminary approval to a privately financed scheme for a new Giant's Causeway Centre, shortly after doing so the public money to Northern Ireland's top tourist destination was frozen. She was succeeded in this role when she was reshuffled to the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment.

Others who may throw their hat into a contest though may include Jeffrey Donaldson or Nigel Dodds both of whom are experienced DUP politicians.

Sammy Wilson an Insidious Propaganda Machine

Back in the summer of 1987 I had a temporary Economics teacherat Regent House. At the time he was a Belfast City Councillor and press officer for the DUP. We would occasionally have our classed broken my his phone and early mobile going off in the the storeroom where it was inevitably on charge.

We had a propaganda machine in our classroom. That early mobile would feed one sides argument to the BBC, UTV or the printed press.

That propaganda machine's user is now the Northern Irish Environment Minister Sammy Wilson MP, MLA. Not everyone, certainly not the majorities, ideal choice of environment minister as he is a climate change denier. He hasn't got of to a good start with many of his pronouncements thus far.

Well he has truly but his foot in it this time. The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change was to run a advertisement campaign in all parts of the UK except Scotland. Scotland were excused because the Scottish executive was planning its own campaign on the same lines. Sammy has said NO! to showing the ad in Northern Ireland. He called it an "insidious propaganda machine".

Now the ad it right out there how it can be working or spreading any message harmfully in a subtle or stealthy manner to make it insidious is beyond me. Maybe one of the lads he taught that summer in 1987, who went on to take Economics at University and took two specialist courses in environmental and energy economics could give his old teacher a lesson on the subject of his brief. That is something I may get around to later today.

In the meantime there are obviously calls for the resignation of a Minister who doesn't have the best insterests of the electorate for his brief to the forefront of his actions.

Environment Sammy Sceptical on CO2

It may appear that this week I'm deliberately out to get at the DUP, but I can assure readers that they just are the ones that are featuring in the stories that are sparking my blogging juices.

Way back in 1987 for the last month of my Lower Sixth year I had a supply teacher for my Economics A'Level course. In the recent reshuffle by the new Northern Irish First Minister Peter Robinson appointed him the new Minister for the Environment. Sadly back then, aged only 17, I didn't had the economic grounding and certainly not the environmental economics knowledge I later attained at Kingston to hold a debate with Sammy Wilson about such things. However, his comments upon taking up his new role do lead be to want to debate some points with him.

You see Sammy Wilson MP MLA is a CO2 sceptic when it comes to Climate Change. Ok he says it is not responsible for all climate change, yes there are other greenhouse gases which have an affect however he is denying that CO2 has as major an effect as it actually does have. He does not support green taxes to change behaviour as he see the effects in reducing CO2 as minimal, but every change causing a reduction is required, if you add up a lot of minimal changes you get significant change. Isn't that a basic principle in economics; economies of scale? He has been the sole voice of being more sceptical than most sceptics are even ignoring that Climate Change is occurring.

Well Sammy within 2 years of being in your class room I realised that Climate Change was occurring. Leading on from the grounding I had from you and others I realised that the eventual solution would have to be economic and political and have to cross national boundaries, because what we were fighting was not contained by human demarcation of divides. To have you in charge of DENI when many in Northern Ireland and the world are doing their bit to slow down, halt or reverse the affects of Climate Change is not the best scenario. The people of Northern Ireland deserve an Environment Minister who cares about all areas of the environment and I hope they continue to lobby you and educate you so that you see what environmental change can be wrought through your position of responsibility.