On the eve of public sector strikes, NI Conservatives’ spokesman, Bill McKendry, has accused executive ministers, and those from Sinn Féin in particular, of blaming all Stormont’s failures on Westminster.
“Every time there needs to be a tough decision about spending tax-payers’ money in Northern Ireland, we hear about Westminster cuts”, Bill commented. “Yet at Stormont the culture of waste and complacency continues unabated. £100 million here in EU fines, thanks to incompetence of the Sinn Féin run Department of Agriculure and Rural Development. A few more million there as the executive offloads property to developers for knock-down prices. Or a big pay hike for the party hacks who act as Special Advisers to ministers. The list is practically endless.”
“All this wasted money could be put to good use for the people of Northern Ireland. The truth is that we received a remarkable settlement from the Treasury for our block grant, with the amount of cash rising year on year, despite the need to tackle Labour’s debt time-bomb. We’ve been asked to shoulder a fraction of the burden faced by many other parts of the UK. The least we should expect from the executive is an effort to spend money wisely.”
“David Cameron may have stopped local politicians from running to London every time they encounter a problem,” Bill continued, “but our ministers still try to blame Westminster for almost all of their failures.”