NI Conservatives’ chairman, Irwin Armstrong, has welcomed the draft Northern Ireland bill, published yesterday by the Secretary of State.
“It’s great to see legislation which can make a real difference to Northern Ireland, delivering on Conservative Party manifesto commitments”, Irwin said. “The plan to abolish double jobbing between Stormont and Westminster is particularly welcome. Voters are getting short-changed by politicians who do not devote all their energies to one job. The provisions to make donations to political parties more transparent are also positive.”
“David Cameron and Theresa Villiers have made it clear that they’d like to have gone further and introduced an official opposition to the Northern Ireland Assembly. Unfortunately there is not yet the consensus among the executive parties to make that vital change to our political system. NI Conservatives will continue to advocate an Assembly where the executive is properly held to account and where voters have a genuine option to change their government.”
“In the mean time, it’s refreshing that we have an active government which is fully engaged with Northern Ireland and is determined to deliver on behalf of its people.”