David Davis is Cameron’s Ted Heath

David Davis has announced himself as climate change (is caused by man) denier. Do the Conservatives have their own version of Sammy Wilson?

I wish that were true. At the very least, we could poke a bit of fun. What you can say in favour of Sammy Wilson is that he is not inherently disloyal to his party leader. The person I am likening David Davis to is Edward Heath.

From the moment that Margaret Thatcher became leader of the Conservative Party in 1975, she had an enemy within her party – her predecessor, Edward Heath.  Until his dying day, he never forgave her and persisted with criticisms of her under the guise of misguided ideology.  One of his most famous backstabbing moments was at the Conservative Party conference in 1981, two years into Mrs. Thatcher’s first term and just as unemployment was really beginning to bite.

Although I am still trying not to believe it, I think history may be repeating itself.  Until the dramatics over the 42 day bill, I was actually quite a fan of David Davis.  I would still like to be if I could be convinced that his recent actions were not motivated by a disturbing pathological streak in his personality which drove him to vengeance. 

After the Government won the vote on the 42 – day detention bill last year, Davis he resigned his seat.  This was despite the fact that the Conservatives were largely on the side of Davis.   It looked totally irrational.  It was.  However, if this was an act of vengeance the timing certainly was not.    This was the time when David Cameron’s lead in the opinion polls had started to harden and take root.   It will almost certainly have crossed Cameron’s mind that this was an act of vengeance.   The Daily Telegraph wrote this

“The Telegraph revealed this morning that the Conservative’s failure to defeat the Government hit Mr Davis hard and had led to friction between the him and the leadership.”

Most of the Newspapers described Davis’s actions in terms of egocentricity.   One Newspaper (the Sun) went further, using the word ‘Treachery’ to describe David Davis’s actions.  Under a headline “Crazy Davis,” the Sun wrote:

“This was no noble cause. It was a shabby act of treachery. Mr Davis, a second-rate but ferociously ambitious politician, has not forgiven his political rival of thrashing him in the Tory leadership race two years ago.”

If David Cameron had got his response wrong, internal fighting within the Conservative Party could have broke out.  After consulting with his colleagues, Cameron responded by not rising to any bait and quietly treating David Davis with “respect.”   David Davis faded from the national picture, until a few days ago when he struck again.  This time, the theme was climate change.

The extent of how damaging this can be will not be known for some time but a Conservative split on climate change has now been reported and already, Labour is taking advantage.  And the timing?  Yes, just before the Copenhagen Summit and at a time when Cameron’s lead in the opinion polls had recently taken a knock.  

Davis can justify his comments as much as he likes.   He certainly was raising a valid issue but it is much too difficult not to impute an ulterior motive.  Davis is a seasoned politician.  He would understand very well the impact of his action.  When your party is only months away from fighting a General Election, you do not require one of your senior politicians undermining one of big features of your next election manifesto. 

The Sun did get it right.  Davis is Ted Heath Mark II.  He will have to be watched for as long as David Cameron is leader.

The other anniversary

Today, there are two anniversaries.  The big one, which I have already alluded to in an earlier post two days ago is the 30th Anniversary of Mrs. Thatcher becoming Prime Minister.  

A rather lesser known anniversary is that the current Stormont Executive in which the DUP and Sinn Fein respectively hold the First and Deputy first Ministries, is now two years old.  

Plenty has happened in those two years.  It began with Revd.Ian Paisley becoming the First Minister at the twilight of his career.  Going into partnership with Sinn Fein prompted much anger amongst many of the DUP’s own supporters.  This has caused a schism within the DUP.  Their MEP, Jim Allister, resigned from the DUP, formed his own party and took with him a very substantial chunk of their support.  We do not yet know how much of the DUP is left.  There have been no opinion polls and the only yardstick we have had is the Dromore Council by-election.  

Ian Paisley retired to make way for Peter Robinson.  Straight away, there was difficulty as Sinn Fein boycotted executive meetings in response to apparent failure to devolve policing and justice.  This was a battle of nerves which the DUP eventually won.  Having accepted that they all faced electoral fallout if they did not get back to Government, they reached a deal on devolution of Police and Justice last November.  The DUP now control the timing of devolution of Police and Justice.   

The months of Executive inactivity meant that the Executive had to act quickly on certain matters.  They almost tripped over themselves as they brought in the Financial Assistance Bill described by some politicians as “emergency powers” legislation to enable certain welfare payments including winter fuel poverty allowances to be paid.  In the middle of the debate on the Bill, Mark Durkan fell foul of Parliamentary standards.   

At about the same time, it was near “crunch time” on academic selection.  With no yielding from the Unionists, no legislation could be brought forth to end it.  The Education Minister, Catriona Ruane faced with two assembly motions to put temporary tests in place chose to leave matters at an impasse.  This has forced Grammar Schools to “do their own thing.”  In effect, the system remains without a centrally organized transfer test exam and no orderly system for the administration of admissions.   

With the impact of the recession increasing, it was inevitable that the pre-agreed financing of the Programme for Government might need to be revised.  Pressure has come to bear on Nigel Dodds, the Minister for Finance to reach agreement through the executive for changes to the finance package. UUP politicians have made reference to a 1 billion “black hole” which so far, Dodds has denied. On the other hand, there has been recent acknowledgement by the DUP that there will have to be cuts in public spending.  This issue is set to develop further.    

The most colourful of Northern Ireland’s politicians is the DUP’s Sammy Wilson.  Who ever would have thought that the Minister for the Environment would turn out to be a denier that climate change was man made?  Who would have thought that he would have interfered with Government advertising campaigns to help people save energy? Rumour is growing around Stormont that Sammy Wilson will be removed after the June 4^th election.  If that is true, it will take away some of the fun for journalists and bloggers like me.  To be honest though, it would be the right decision.    

Other ministries have had a relatively quiet time, or have they?  Margaret Ritchie, the   Minister has been in the spotlight recently for having her decision to withdraw funding for Farset, which was quashed by the Courts.  Michele Gildernew, the Agriculture Minister, gave a demonstration of how ideology affected decision-making in her department.  She also  became embroiled in controversy over the handing out of grants under the Rural Development Programme for Northern Ireland (2007-13)   

Dissident Republican terrorism brought about the murder of a police officer and two soldiers.  The First Minister and Deputy First Minister had the opportunity to display solidarity.  Martin McGuiness, in particular, sailed as far as anybody from his party could go on criticizing the dissidents with his now famous quote: “they are traitors to the Island of Ireland.”   

Overall, it has been an interesting two years.  We have seen the parties bash each other like never before.  The opposition have scored some hits, most notably over double jobbing and expenses whilst the DUP and Sinn Fein have scored a massive own-goal over bullying and their war with the media.   

Of course, the defects in power sharing are there for all to see.  There is no such thing as collective cabinet responsibility and there is resultantly much more negativity in decision making.  The impasse on educational issues is a classic example of that. 

The next two years of the Executive are likely to be just as interesting as the first two.   In the Belfast Telegraph today, the Challenges facing the Executive have been identified in the areas of Devolution of Policing and Justice,  Education,  Irish Language,  National Stadium Funding,  the Review of Public Administration and Parades.  These are all contentious issues, yet somehow I feel that cuts in public spending will be at the centre of contention.   

As the recession continues to bite, one is left wondering how vulnerable to negative voter opinion the UUP and the SDLP are as occupiers of the 3 most high-spending ministries.  Will they be politically vulnerable to high-profile spending cuts?  Will the DUP be tempted to try and abuse its position as the controller of Finance Ministry?  We shall see.

Peter Robinson in a desperate struggle to control Sammy Wilson

At the end of last week, the Environment Minister, Sammy Wilson, complained that he was not being treated with enough respect by Westminster.  

This followed his refusal to allow Government advertisements which promoted the saving of energy (the Belfast Telegraph reported last Friday).  This follows a wider pattern of paramania and bullying by the DUP.   

Yesterday, Wilson’s own leader, Peter Robinson, humiliated him in the Assembly when he made a veiled but very conspicuous criticism of the Environment Minister.  

It began with a question from UUPs Roy Beggs MLA.  

“Has the office of first Minister and Deputy First Minister Considered how the programme for Government for commitment to reduce the impact of climate change is being adversely affected the views expressed by the Environment Minister on climate change….”  

To which the First Minister replied:  

“……I think the scientific evidence is on the side of those of us who believe that man is having an impact on climate and, therefore, there is a necessity on the part of the Executive to be dealing with those issues.  And, even if it weren’t so, I have to say that the possibility that it were should be enough to alert any responsible Executive to take whatever measures it can.”

A video of the exchange has been posted on Slugger.  

Mark Davenport of the BBC has described Mr. Robinson’s answer as “a pretty comprehensive slap down.” This is an understatement.  There can be little doubt that Mr. Robinson has already had words with Mr. Wilson which have been ignored.  Robinson’s public criticism looks very near to a last desperate attempt to control Mr. Wilson.   

Mr. Robinson may already have thought about sacking his Environment Minister but then ruled it out.  Reading between the lines, Mr. Robinson has done that, having considered that Wilson would be more dangerous, undisciplined and selfish outside the Executive.  Wilson is clearly not a team player within the DUP.  Given the number of psychological flaws in Mr. Wilson’s personality (in addition to the above, Pseudologia fantastica, egotism, meglamania and SEP come to mind), it is hard to see how Mr. Wilson is going to restrain himself. 

Expect then that Sammy Wilson will cause more damage and embarrassment to the First Minister and his party. 

Tommy Gallagher in receipt of Sammy Wilson’s antics

Yesterday in the assembly, there were more antics from the Environment Minister, Sammy Wilson. 

I heard it on the radio as I was travelling home last night.  I was not going to write about it at all until I went to work this morning and was struck by the ferocity of the wind.  Northern Ireland is a wind rich country.  We need a revision of the existing grant scheme and planning policy in order to encourage people to make use of it.  

Yesterday, members of the Assembly debated a motion which included a call on the Environment Minister to withdraw his opposition to the ’Act on CO2′  Earlier, “no confidence “ motion introduced by the Environment committee against Mr. Wilson. What was Wilson’s response? 

He ran a check on the cars parked at Stormont and the petrol expense claims of all members of the committee.  It was Tommy Gallagher, MLA, the committee member who introduced the ‘no confidence’ motion who was on the receiving end of this taunt:  

“Had Mr Gallagher been at the Committee when I visited, I would have had the opportunity to tell him how he has acted on CO2, because Mr Gallagher has become known as the Christopher Columbus from Fermanagh. According to his mileage claim for last year, he has twice circumnavigated the world in pursuit of his Assembly duties. It is a wonder that he has any time to come here; he must spend most of his time in the car.   

Tommy Gallagher MLA

During that time, he has generated more than 20 tons of carbon; he is the carbon king of this Assembly. There is a perfectly good express bus from Enniskillen to Belfast, and I will give him the timetable for it, if he wants it. Had he used that bus and acted on C02, he would have generated only 6·84 tonnes of carbon and could have reduced his carbon footprint by 60%. Did he do it? Not on your life, because acting on CO2 is for someone else, not for Mr Gallagher.”  

It was a joke in bad taste, not least because to some, it would have sounded like an allegation of financial impropriety.  Not surprisingly, Mr. Gallagher did not find it very funny.  He said this in response.  

“I know that he does not visit the west very often and may not know the geography very well, but I do not live in Enniskillen. In fact, for me to drive to Enniskillen to get the express bus that he referred to would take 45 minutes.”  

It is not just Mr. Wilson’s knowledge of geography which is open to question.  So also his knowledge of history.  Christopher Columbus did not circumnavigate the World.  The first circumnavigator of the World in a ship was Juan Sebastián Elcano.  Perhaps it is also worth pointing out that wind power was used to transport their ships. We already knew, of course, that history is not a hot topic for the DUP, particularly natural history.  

Back to the more serious point about wind power.  Yesterday, the Draft Renewables Obligation Order (Northern Ireland) 2009, introduced by the ETI Minister, Arlene Foster was approved by the assembly.  I wont comment on the order itself.  Of much more importance was what Mrs. Foster said regarding the overall strategy for increased green power.  She said this  

“Renewable energy is a vital part of the Department’s strategy to tackle the two major challenges of ensuring a secure supply of energy for Northern Ireland and combating climate change. As Northern Ireland’s main mechanism for encouraging new renewable electricity generation, it is crucial that NIRO is as effective as possible, and it has been successful so far. When NIRO was introduced in 2005, just under 3% of electricity produced in Northern Ireland was renewable. Today, 7% of electricity produced and consumed in Northern Ireland is renewable, which is a higher percentage than ever before. 

However, NIRO must deliver even more. I will soon consult on a new strategic energy framework that will contain proposals to set higher targets for renewable electricity, which is vital in securing Northern Ireland’s energy supply and combating climate change.” 

Mrs. Foster’s statement is very positive and laudible.  Had it not been for Sammy Wilson’s antics, Mrs. Foster’s statement would have attracted more attention from the press.  Sammy Wilson is a liability to the DUP not only because it is so hard to take him seriously.  He also creates fog around some of the good work being carried out by his party colleagues in the Executive.

Sammy Wilson’s career on the line as Arlene Foster hammers a political stake into him

On Monday, it was announced by the Minister for Enterprise, Arlene Foster announced that her department will be consulting shortly on a new energy framework.

In a written response to a question in the Assembly she said:

“This will include a focus on renewable technologies and how they can help deliver security and diversity of energy supply, address climate change and create local employment opportunities.”

Recently, the Environment Minister, Sammy Wilson has been outspoken in his opinion that Global warming is not man made. He also tried to undermine a government advertising campaign to save energy. Last week, a vote of no confidence was made against Wilson by the Environment committee. There have been calls for his resignation. A DUP Spokesman has suggested that there is no conflict between the position of Sammy Wilson and Arlene Foster’s department but the words “address climate change” say it all.

I thought something like this would come along before I wrote  ‘Policy gap opens between the Conservatives and the DUP’. In the light of this announcement, I will revise that post. 

Mrs. Foster must have had her patience sorely tested all the while that Sammy Wilson made his utterances. Perhaps the most inglorious comment of all made by Wilson was his attempt to portray himself as a modern Galileo (1564-1642)  – a genius of his time who supported the (then) theory that the earth revolved around the Sun.

Sammy Wilson is not a scientist. He does not have any of the qualifications in the sciences which have advanced the theory of the causes of climate change. He has unreasonably reached a view which is against mainstream scientific opinion for some ulterior reason.

His comparison of himself to Galileo smacks of political vanity, the like of which we have not seen since the former dictator, Idi Amin of Uganda (1925-2003), who once awarded himself a “CBE” (meaning “Conqueror of the British Empire”). I would not, of course, compare Wilson to the despotic side of Amin’s behaviour.

Where does that leave Wilson’s career? Almost certainly, there would have been consultation by Foster with Robinson before Foster’s announcement.

Wilson has now almost certainly been marginalized by his political colleagues. His career as a minister may soon be over.

CO2 coming out of Sammy Wilson’s mouth reaches alarming levels

In my post of 29th January 2009, I highlighted differences in policy on the Environment between the Conservatives and the DUP.

This week, Roy Beggs MLA of the UUP, has highlighted attempts by Sammy Wilson to interfere with the Government’s campaign to reduce carbon emissions.  To Read Mr. Beggs post, click here.

It seems that the amount of CO₂ coming out of Sammy Wilson’s mouth is now reaching alarming levels.

Keep talking Mr. Wilson

DUP Environment minister has again been criticized for outspoken remarks. On this occasion, he came under fire from teachers for accusing schools of “mollycoddling” their children. He was critical of people who use the bad weather as an excuse to take the day off. He was critical of schools for closing down, even though the grounds for closure were health and safety grounds.

“Some schools are over-cautious and use health and safety as an excuse. We are turning into a society that uses the slightest skiff of snow as an excuse to take a day off,” he is reported to have said to the Belfast Newsletter at the end of last week.

Mr. Wilson’s department is responsible for the gritting of roads. Does he have a point or is he trying to deflect from criticism that the roads are not gritted properly?

Some would agree with Mr. Wilson that the bad weather is sometimes used as an excuse for not turning up to work. As for schools closing, they have to make their own judgment on the basis of children’s welfare as well as health and safety. From his ministerial office, Mr. Wilson is in no position to declare whether any particular school has made the right call.“

What has Mr. Wilson said in response to criticism that roads have not been properly gritted?”
Well er nothing reported. Keep talking, Mr. Wilson.

Policy gap opens up between DUP and Conservatives

There are plenty of examples of gaffes by DUP politicians.  Some comments by Sammy Wilson have been highlighted on the Conservative NI website here and here.  Policy differences between the Conservatives and the DUP are not so easy to find. One significant exception is in relation to the Environment.

 The DUP have taken an anti-conservationist line on the environment on the basis that measures to protect the environment are anti-business.  In an interview with the Belfast Newsletter September 5, 2008 , Mr. Wilson said this:

 “It seems that there is a branch of the environmental movement which almost rejoices in every environmental disaster be it local or international. The bigger the disaster the better because it helps reinforce their demands for more government regulation, restrictions on individual economic freedom and their anti-business agenda” 

 On the question of whether carbon emissions damage the planet, Wilson is in denial.  He questions the evidence to support to the claim that the Global Warming that we are currently experiencing is anything to do with Man’s activities and he points to the natural cycle’s that have occurred in the planet’s history. 

 He has clearly selected an unbalanced view of the causes of climate change to fit his desired view that climate change is not Northern Ireland’s problem.  He also uses Northern Ireland’s smallness to justify his inflexibility pointing out that 3% of emissions are from the UK and only 3% of UK’s emissions are from Northern Ireland.

 In other words, Northern Ireland’s people and businesses should just be able to do what they like.

 Individuals and businesses make their own day to day judgments on their needs based on what is around them.  It is the duty of politicians to look at the bigger picture and lead the people to understand and appreciate the greater public interest.  Clearly, Sammy Wilson and the DUP have been found wanting in that regard.

The official Conservative approach to the environment could not be more different.  New exciting planet-friendly policies have now been developed by the Conservatives which meet the desire of the public to minimise damage to our planet, with particular emphasis on a low carbon economy. The following measures were announced by David Cameron on 16^th January.  These include.

• An electricity internet
• A system of feed-in tariffs
• A new national recharging network
• New low carbon energy sources Low carbon buildings, transport and commerce.  This includes the development of hybrid fossil and electric cars.

There are also wider economic arguments for development of these policies.  David Cameron has said

“if we do not make these changes soon, other countries could take these valuable skilled jobs”.

In Northern Ireland, energy is administered by the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment (although this could soon be party of environment under DUP plans to reduce the number of Stormont ministers).  Environmental and Energy policies for Northern Ireland need to be developed together.  It is to be expected that the Conservative/UUP alliance in Northern Ireland will follow the Main Conservative line.