A Conservative spokesman has welcomed proposals to introduce an official opposition to Stormont. Johnny Andrews described the measure, outlined in a government paper, as part of the Stormont talks process, as “absolutely necessary if there is to be genuine political progress here”.
“It’s clear from the current impasse that the public has to be given a meaningful chance to vote out the Executive, if it is not doing its job properly”, Johnny commented. “It’s also clear that there is no point at all in having an early Stormont election, under the current system. If the parties can refuse to govern, then simply crash Stormont and come back again, to more or less the same posts, after an election, nothing will have changed. There has to be a way to hold the current Executive to account for its failures. Creating an opposition, to give voters a choice, is undoubtedly the way forward.”
“At the moment the Stormont parties are acting like stroppy toddlers. There is a real risk that Northern Ireland will miss out on powers to cut Corporation Tax and the chance to transform our economy. There are also unparalleled opportunities being wasted to replace our broken welfare system and rebalance the economy. Instead, the Executive seems intent upon condemning people to generations of dependency and poverty. The public is crying out for an alternative. We’ve got to make the political institutions robust and fit for purpose, to change things into the future. That involves creating an opposition, and reforming Stormont should be a central part of any deal, if it is to transform our society genuinely.”