DUP 'time-wasting' motion doesn't face facts

Ulster Unionist finance spokesperson David McNarry has said that a motion tabled by the DUP opposing any reduction to Northern Ireland's block grant is "fatuous to say the least given that their finance minister has already acknowledged the likelihood of a 10 per cent cut".

Offering an amendment that calls for preparation ahead of potential cuts and the formation of an ad-hoc Budgetary Review Committee, the UUP MLA said that it is time to "get real".

"We are all fed up with the DUP setting down sound bite motions which are more to do with an election manifesto than dealing with issues needing to be actually addressed. The House and the public can see right through these antics, particularly after their own finance minister laid out expectations of a cut in black and white in his newspaper column!

"This feeble motion is another example of the DUP trying to evade responsibility when they are to blame for their lack of action on budgetary reform for well over a year during the worst financial crisis the world has seen since 1929. This House knows it and the public can see that.

"There is no way, in the present financial climate, that the Westminster Government can sustain the block grant without cuts. Without a compelling case argument on behalf of Northern Ireland, UK public opinion would simply not allow that to happen.

"Similarly, Northern Ireland cannot reasonably expect the Westminster Government to minimise any cuts to the block grant unless there has been demonstrable action by the Northern Ireland Executive to put its own financial house in order first.

"The DUP cannot seriously think the efficiency savings - more properly called cuts - which the Labour Government have already announced will not happen after the 2010 election, no matter who wins. Labour says 9½ % cuts - Conservatives say 10% there is no difference in their assessments.

"Of course, no-one wants cuts to the NI block grant. No-one is going to vote for cuts, therefore this motion takes no account of reality," the Strangford MLA said.

"The Ulster Unionist position takes us beyond the easy beat-your-chest rhetoric into actually saying - 'Northern Ireland PLC we have a problem'. London needs money and they have the power to cut the Block Grant which is our survival lifeline.

"We are already struggling financially - that struggle will not disappear after the General Election in fact it will get worse, if and when there are cuts to the Block Grant. The task is to identify the problem and prepare."

ENDS…