Spotlight - Oh!!!!!!!!! someone's in a spot of trouble

warmhands.coldheart

They are all Dinosaurs....... But sadly there are still too many people here with chips on their shoulders against "the other side" for there to be any change in this generation !!

GlynD

saverbuyer wrote: »

I don't even think it’s funny. I think it is disgusting. I really can't believe the DUP used a petition of concern. Clearly there was cross community support for an investigation into the brown envelope culture at the heart of the DUP.

And now Nigel Dodds tries to appeal to the knuckle draggers…
I despair sometimes. I really do.

Well I think they're hilarious!

I'll get me coat.

gorilla

Can I just point out that there is going to be an investigation by the Committee for Social Development (not that that will probably achieve anything). The petition of concern is neither here nor there. If you read the DUP amendment, IMO that would have opened a whole other can of worms.
Does no one wonder why only Jim Allister wanted the Minister to resign?

I'm not a DUP fanboy (if they exist) or any other fanboy. Just someone interested in hearing the facts.

Suplex_Backbreaker

GlynD wrote: »

None of this surprises me. The DUP and SF are both desperate to hang onto power because they both have long term agendae. It's well known that SF not only bully their own people into toeing the party line but they also make all of their MP's, TD's and MLA's donate a large part of their salary into party funds which I think is totally wrong!

You're not going to find any of the NI, GB or ROI parties operating in a different way. They all bully people into following the whip and money is at the root of it.

It's certainly true that corruption is most likely present amongst all the large parties - all the more reason to nail them to the wall when a prima facie example is uncovered, as is the case here.

As for forcing a change in their behaviour - that's the job of the electorate. Once a politician (or party) is exposed as pulling this sort of stunt they should be ejected from their position of power at the next election.

Unfortunately, many people are lazy, uninformed and not motivated to engage properly in the political process. Plus of course the lovely sectarian dimension in NI provides political chancers with a nice lazy way to get votes. Just get yourself nominated by your tribal gang, wave your flag and denounce the other sort as being responsible for your tribe's ills ... and laugh all the way to the land of little brown envelopes, quangos, non-executive directorships and other lucrative politically appointed sinecures.

saverbuyer

Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.

Suplex_Backbreaker

gorilla wrote: »

Can I just point out that there is going to be an investigation by the Committee for Social Development (not that that will probably achieve anything). The petition of concern is neither here nor there. If you read the DUP amendment, IMO that would have opened a whole other can of worms.
Does no one wonder why only Jim Allister wanted the Minister to resign?

I'm not a DUP fanboy (if they exist) or any other fanboy. Just someone interested in hearing the facts.

The facts are that the assembly voted 54-32 to investigate the conduct of the minister for Social Development and the DUP invoked a 'petition of concern' to stymie that investigation. A clear misuse of the process by the DUP and a sign of just how desperate they are to avoid detailed investigation into the matter.

ballyblack

Still, with the twelfth coming up there's plenty of opportunity for them to stir the pot and get the media off the corruption story.

They have already started

http://www.u.tv/News/DUPs-Dodds-suspended-from-Commons/3310f3f0-9e29-4df2-8200-2a52776d2d24

D.A.

They really are utterly shameless:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-23262398

Suplex_Backbreaker

D.A. wrote: »

They really are utterly shameless:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-23262398

Is anyone really surprised? They were happy to join in early on to the 'fleg' issue as it was perceived to boost Robinson's chances at the next general election (Of course they later distanced themselves from the issue in the violence that later developed).

warmhands.coldheart

And now they are re-calling the assembly to discuss a Parades Commission ruling....... Recalling the assembly to Discuss a decision made by a government body on a decision you don't like ain't quite the same as re-calling it to discuss fraud, corruption and other such wrong-doings! Pathetic !! As a protestant it makes me sick..... IMHO, this has Nothing to do with the parades commission decision, and everything to do with taking the spotlight of the Red Sky debacle...