Month: October 2018

 

The latest figures released on Northern Ireland Emergency Departments waiting lists are alarming, especially as they relate to a mild time of year. 

  

Commenting, UKIP Spokesman for Northern Ireland, Robert Hill said:
 

“While our MLAs continue to coin it in whilst enjoying their two year, work-free, paid holiday – families suffer the indignity of longer and longer waiting times to be treated and or admitted to hospital and our already overworked front-line medical staff are put under more and more stress.

  
“Despite clear guidelines stating that no-one should have to wait more than 12 hours, 1,716 patients in Northern Ireland suffered this hardship in September. 
This figure is almost double the 919 over the same period last year.”

    
“As we enter the colder seasons, these figures are sure to rise and the most vulnerable in society will surely bear the brunt of it.”

  

Commenting further, Robert added:

   

“No-one apart from our inept and self-serving politicians are to blame for this and every other crisis and scandal that has defined Stormont in recent years.

    
“This further proves that their warped system of Legislative Devolution has failed the people big time and the public have lost faith in these politicians.”

     
“We need action from H.M. Government – not words or kicking the can further down the road. 
Return us to direct rule immediately so that these vitally important decisions can be taken by politicians, not unelected and unaccountable senior civil servants who didn’t sign up to make key decisions in the first place.

      
“This must happen now if we want to save our wonderful health service and the dignity of our families.”

On this island where the art of compromise is perfected and practised with exacting expertise: Why does Brexit cause the southern Irish so much grief?   If one accepts the validity and legitimacy of the ballot box, we (the entirety of the United Kingdom) voted to leave the European Union.  I hear the siren calls for a second referendum ‘because Northern Ireland voted to remain it should stay in the E.U.’   Stretching the corollary of that nonsense:  My constituency of Strangford voted to leave. There would be a marked switch in opinion if we were to be sub-divided with leaver constituencies exiting the E.U. –  and remainers staying. A new partition drawn up on Brexit lines isn’t on.

It’s at this point when Northern Irelanders must stop, think and take stock of where this percolating resistance to Brexit might land us. Further down the line I offer a serious suggestion for consideration by Mr. Varadkar.

But first,  allow me to grab your attention. I have deep concerns about how we will end up in the aftermath of Brexit. It’s dangerous to go there as an afterthought. We are for sure leaving the E. U.  –  but we are leaving scattered around acrimonious bitterness piled high. Me too;   I have made –  and even in this piece make some jaw jangling comments reeling from nationalist aggression,  throwing the kitchen sink at unionists over Brexit.

Leaving the E.U. will not impair continued peace, it does not impact on the Belfast Agreement, nor will it facilitate calls for an early plebiscite on Irish unity. Predictably,  the unionist reaction to such facile threats and bullying by the Irish is to circle its wagons around self-preservation and protectionism. So when I ask to stop, think and take stock:  I respectfully suggest that outsiders like Simon Coveney do likewise.  There is always a villain of the peace,  and the Foreign Affairs Minister (with emphasis on foreign) plays his part with consummate ease .

From a unionist perspective – it would be so refreshing instead of berating the British on how the border must be managed, to hear Mr. Coveney spell out precisely what level of checks, controls and patrols his government will put into place as a consequence of Brexit?   Is it that they do not believe – or do not want to believe that shared technology is capable of outwitting their kidology?   If Mr. Coveney genuinely desires (as unionism does) to trade freely across this island – without creating barriers and to see co-operation between our police and security forces:  Then lets get on with perfecting the art of compromise to our peoples mutual benefit.

A few days ago – I put this suggestion to my good friend Nigel Farage MEP  – How would it work if the Irish asked for an E.U. dispensation to agree a special status in the island of Ireland to trade internally with Northern Ireland (i.e. special status given to Dublin purely for cross-border trade and traffic.)  He replied immediately by text: “The W.T.O. could help with that on the grounds of political sensitivity. The E.U. will give no dispensation.”

Now isn’t it alarming that with Nigel’s wealth of experience in E.U. affairs, in his judgement –  the E.U. would give ‘no dispensation’. But isn’t it very interesting that he says the E.U. ‘should’ give dispensation.    My suggestion is all and only about an inter-island trade agreement –  with no need for a customs union or backstop(s) –  just basic, practical common sense.   They (the Irish Republic) stay in the E.U. and we (Northern Ireland) stay in the U.K. (and UK Internal Market, with no barriers between any part of the U.K.) –  we remain friendly, and we work to boost our separate economies .

Not once since or before Brexit have the Southern Irish Government pursued a creative solution to resolve the intractable so called Irish border. Heaven forbid that they have forgotten its British on the other side. Well how about it Mr. Varadkar –  make a call to Mrs. May, and ask her to support a plan for E.U. dispensation to operate a special-status trading agreement with Northern Ireland.  She is unlikely to refuse!

Opinion Piece by David McNarry

(Former UKIP MLA and Leader in Northern Ireland.)

With the release of a paper this week revealing the possible scrapping, or at the very least restrictions on who will be eligible to receive a free tv licence by 2020 –  the time  must surely have come to look at abolishing this licence fee altogether.

Commenting, UKIP Spokesman for Northern Ireland – Robert Hill said:

“The BBC is an organisation which publicly claims that it needs to save money while simultaneously  paying so called ‘People’s Vote’ Spokesman Gary Lineker £1.75 Million a year to present its weekly sporting shows. Locally, ‘social justice warrior’s’ like Stephen Nolan are paid £400,000 per annum to present pro E.U. drivel to us. In fact, the BBC pays its top presenters over £8 million a year between them.

“This is the BBC that in September reported less than 20% of the attacks that happened in Israel and continues to ignore the genocide of white farmers across South Africa. This is also an organisation that continues to  ignore most of the torture, murder and persecution of Christians around the world – specifically in predominantly Muslim controlled countries.”

“One only has to look at the biased and relentless attack on UKIP Leader, Gerard Batten last week on Politics Live to see that it is quickly becoming nothing more than a left-leaning,  pro E.U. echo chamber and propaganda machine.”

Commenting further, Robert added:

“If some people want to make the conscious choice to listen to this sort of programming, then let them pay for the privilege – like they pay for other TV subscription-based channels,  and let the rest of us who choose not to listen to this spend our money on non-biased news and entertainment sources elsewhere. The truth is out there.

“If you agree, then join UKIP in our call for the total abolition of the BBC licence fee now.”

Commenting on the recent calls by some on the extreme left for ‘positive discrimination’ and the return of 50/50 PSNI recruitment,  UKIP Spokesman for Northern Ireland, Robert Hill said:

 

“Again we see the poisonous voices of the extreme left calling for a return to the scandalous 50/50 recruitment process in the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

This biased process was wrong in the past and is equally wrong now.

 

“Jobs of all persuasions in all fields, should be awarded purely on the basis of ability and merit – with the most capable candidates being awarded the jobs available: Not simply because of their age, sex, colour or religion –  as some have demanded this week.   There is absolutely no such thing as ‘positive discrimination.’  Discrimination is discrimination: Full stop.

“What will the local politicos  suggest next: ‘Positive sectarianism’ or ‘positive racism.’  This madness needs to stop now.”

Commenting further, Robert added:

“It’s an undeniable fact that many people from a Catholic or Irish Nationalist background aren’t currently applying to join the PSNI in big numbers. This is in large part because of the threat from so-called dissident Republican terrorists, and due to the fact that many of those raised in predominantly Republican areas are taught from an early age to not associate themselves with anything deemed British. They therefore opt not to join what they have been taught  to believe is a ‘Completely British police force’ in this part of the UK.

“Only by tackling the root causes of these long-standing issues will more people from that particular background apply to join the PSNI. Perhaps the very politicians who are clamouring for ’positive discrimination’ and 50/50 police recruitment should be concentrating on addressing these issues.”