THE WEEK THAT WAS….
If Stormont’s Order Paper was a mini-skirt its skimpiness would raise eyebrows among even the most liberally minded. Another week and another session without even the fig-leaf of some Westminster inspired regulations to run past our democratic guardians. The pace isn’t pedestrian, it’s pre-historic.
In that context, why the big fuss over double jobbing? I hardly think we have to fear too much about a slump in Ministers’ mental health brought on by excessive workloads. Fourteen days of Daily Telegraph headlines is, however, an exceptionally long time in politics and the unexpected announcement by the First Minister that all bar one of the DUP’s MPs would be giving up Assembly positions in advance of choosing between Westminster and Stormont has killed off a potentially damaging debate.
It does though give the local media and pundits the chance to divert their energies into their favourite parlour game of ‘Cabinet Reshuffle’. Personally, I can’t see too many sitting MPs declaring their hand in favour of Stormont.
For the pre-devolution generation, Westminster is the apex of a political career and some of them have worked jolly hard to get there. It’s also still the best club in the country. Members consist of some genuinely gifted politicians, it covers the entire gamut of political life above and beyond the parish-pump politics of Stormont and, if you get bored, you can amuse yourself in London’s social scene. No offence to the delights of East Belfast, but I’d rather have a night out in the West End than Ballyhackamore.
Plus, DUP Westminster MPs are in the enviable position of being in eternal opposition, bringing with it the freedom to comment on everything without the inconvenience of having to take any decisions; and there’s no irritating mandatory coalition malarkey where you have to work with people you probably think should be serving time.
Why give up a job for life as an MP for the vagaries of Stormont, always one step away from a reshuffle caused by a gaffe by your officials? If you’re going to spend much of your career on the backbenches, surely one with a view of the Thames is preferable?
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