NI Conservatives’ co-chair, Trevor Ringland, has welcomed the Secretary of State’s speech on ‘moving politics forward’, which Theresa Villiers delivered at Assembly Buildings in Belfast this morning.
“The Secretary of State has made a considerable contribution with her remarks and all parties in Northern Ireland should study them closely”, Trevor said. “Theresa is absolutely right to point out that the past must be dealt with in a fair and objective way. When it comes to investigations, there cannot be an exclusive focus on small numbers of acts perpetrated by members of the armed forces, while the vast majority of killings, committed by paramilitaries, are ignored. Both republicans and loyalists have made concerted efforts to present their campaigns of violence as justifiable and, for the future of Northern Ireland, we must ensure that their narratives don’t go unchallenged. Anyone who acted outside the law was wrong.”
“The Secretary of State also makes a vital point, when she argues that the current political system at Stormont has serious weaknesses. It is very difficult to remove the people who make decisions and replace them with a viable alternative. Our colleagues in the Conservative led Government are supportive of NI Conservatives’ argument that the Assembly should be reformed to include a formal opposition. The ability to hold those in power to account and the ability to kick them out, if we desire, are basic principles of democracy. Currently the system in Northern Ireland makes that difficult and a move to formal opposition is clearly the way forward.”