A local Conservative has urged the Executive “to finally show some signs it is fit for purpose and strike next year’s budget immediately”. The party’s finance spokesman, Johnny Andrews, commented as the Stormont parties struggled to meet a deadline to agree spending plans by the end of this week.
“The current impasse has been caused by outright refusal to take responsibility, make difficult decisions and perform basic tasks of government”, Johnny explained. “The Executive parties have reached crisis point and are attempting to thrash something out at the last minute, because they’ve not been doing their jobs properly. We’ve had too many years of ducking unpopular decisions, short-term thinking and trying to pull the wool over the public’s eyes to imply that Stormont is working as it should.”
“In truth, they haven’t even started rebalancing the economy toward private sector jobs, which everyone agrees is the only sustainable way to build a prosperous Northern Ireland in the long-term. They’ve put off all the hard-work of making departments more efficient, prioritising front-line services and tackling duplication. There’s been no progress on implementing a robust welfare system to last into the future. The Executive has been ignoring its problems and hoping they go away. Contrast that approach with the way in which Conservatives in the Westminster government tackled the economic crisis head on, with the result that the economy has been turned around.”
“If the Stormont parties don’t get their act together, their ability to take financial decisions will be removed next year, which will sound the death knell for effective devolved government under the current set-up. This Executive really is drinking in Last Chance Saloon. It needs to implement welfare reform, for the benefit of everyone in Northern Ireland, strike a budget centred on creating private sector jobs and reform the public sector, so that it provides excellent, value for money front-line services.”