First Saturday of the campaign

A good start to the day with a meeting at HQ of all our candidates; there is a wealth of talent and experience to draw on there, as well as enormous enthusiasm and appetite for the campaign. It is a very different line up from any previous Ulster Unionist group of candidates.

Then on to Lisburn to meet my campaign team in the centre of Lisburn, where we enjoyed the spring weather, and engaged with shoppers, including a lovely encounter with a lady who had been a babysitter for us when our older children were small, over twenty five years ago.

A quick lunch, and on to do some serious door knocking, ending just as the Grand National was starting. My poster team has been out for the last three evenings, but we will never match the quantities of posters put up by the DUP and TUV. In all other respects, we are seeing nothing of them on the ground. I recall from earlier elections how the Workers’ Party always had more and better posters than everyone else – but they didn’t win elections.

Our Conservative colleagues coming to support us find our postering of lampposts a novel experience: they don’t do it at all, but individuals display posters in their windows or gardens to show their support.

This evening was a night off.

The Ulster Youth Orchestra was having their second concert in the new theatre in Mossley Mill, and we went along to join the Mayor of Newtownabbey and a very good audience. They played even better than in Enniskillen, and the new theatre is a superb amenity.

Campaigning today in Lisburn.

The morning started with a quick trip to Campaign HQ for press interviews along with Dominic Grieve, Shadow SoS for Justice. Dominic is no stranger to Northern Ireland, having come here first as a boy as a guest of T E Uttley when holidaying in Co. Down, and he has visited regularly in recent times in his working capacity. Dominic came with me to Lisburn for a walkabout in Bow Street. The sun shone on us and many shoppers were out and about. We were received very positively, and it was good to meet people whose doors I had already been to.

We called in at Green’s Foodfare, a long established and highly successful food retailer in the city centre. I have no doubt that Conservative policies will grow the economy and keep our town centres vibrant more than anything Gordon Brown has to offer, and people are getting the message that a vote for me is a vote for David Cameron.

This evening is an evening away from politics. I am chair of the Ulster Youth Orchestra, and we have been running an Easter course for a chamber orchestra in Enniskillen, culminating in a concert this evening. It is great that we have managed to raise enough money to secure the future of the UYO for this year. The young people gave of their all and played magnificently. The soloist was Ciaran McCabe, now a professional musician, who first joined the UYO age 14 (or younger) in 1998.

A Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland

This is the text of a 'Platform' article published in the News Letter 2 April 2010

The Human Rights Commission’s remit in regard to a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland was fulfilled when it delivered its advice to the Secretary of State. The debate now belongs in the political arena.

We are at the end of the extended Government consultation period on their proposals. The reality is that the election is upon us and nothing will happen before the next parliament. Conservatives and Unionists have pledged to enact a UK wide Bill of Rights with a section for Northern Ireland. No-one should expect that section to be significantly bigger than Labour’s proposals, (though it might address different issues).

We have had over ten years of deliberation by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, we have had the Bill of Rights forum; a foreign philanthropic foundation has invested millions of pounds in lobbying and advertising by non statutory bodies. One might ask why such an organisation should consider the amending of human rights legislation in Northern Ireland in a particular way to be a cause worthy of disbursing so many millions of pounds.

It is appropriate to reflect on where we go from here.

The NIHRC proposals are dead in the water. There can be no doubt about that. But the time is ripe for change in human rights legislation across the UK.

The Human Rights Act is twelve years old. It has put judges in positions of political controversy. It has created a culture of rights without responsibilities. And it has failed to protect traditional freedoms.

Recently a doctor convicted in the UK of sexually assaulting two of his patients had his conviction in a British court overturned at Strasbourg because the Strasbourg court held that his right to a fair trial had been violated. One of his victims had committed suicide after giving a statement to the police. The British court allowed the statement to be given in evidence, in accord with British law. Strasbourg quashed his conviction, because he hadn’t been able to examine one of his accusers.

Many lawyers think that it is time to bring Human Rights home – to stop the confusion that can arise when judges are obliged to take into account two sometimes conflicting bodies of law.

If elected, Conservatives and Unionists will bring forward proposals for a UK Bill of Rights to strengthen and better protect our traditional liberties, with a section dealing with any issues specific to Northern Ireland. We don’t need any other special treatment.

DUP follow our lead again

It would appear that where Conservatives and Unionists lead, the DUP follows.

Last week they finally capitulated to Conservatives and Unionists pressure on double jobbing. This week they have come out in support of our policy on a UK Bill of Rights. And of course we cannot forget the big volte face they made in following us in the Assembly.

While they might follow our lead, however, there is a crucial difference between us.

The DUP will never be in a position to replace Labour’s Human Rights Act with a UK Bill of Rights because the DUP will never form or be part of the UK Government.

Conservatives and Unionists are the only party standing in Northern Ireland that can possibly form the government of the UK and deliver the change we need.

Ex Igne Resurgam

In all the excitement of election preparations I have shamefully neglected my blog – no more.

I am back.

What’s more, I believe we are back!

Lisburn’s motto is so appropriate for Ulster Unionism’s position today. After being down for a number of years, we are poised for a big recovery.

I’ve been spending the last couple of weeks engaging with the electorate.

In the Old Warren estate where I was leafleting, I was well received; I chatted to lots of voters; none were hostile.

What a difference a few years makes. In the old days, when I was fighting David’s election battles in Upper Bann, the DUP were there, following us round, giving noisy accompaniment to our canvassing teams – but I haven’t seen sight nor sign of them in Lagan Valley.

And people want to talk: the other night it took me an hour to canvass an estate of 38 houses. It was great to have the time to engage and listen to people’s concerns. So far there are two big issues on the doorstep – the economy and education. We must not ever underestimate the depth of feeling there is against Katriona Ruane’s attempts to destroy our education system.

And on the economy, people are responding to the opportunity we are giving them to get rid of Gordon Brown.

We have agonised for months, if not years about North Down. Now we have a resolution, and we know where we stand. I can’t predict the outcome of the election in that constituency, but if Sylvia is returned, what will she do? Will she sit with labour? Or with the remnants of the DUP? Or will she cut a lonely figure on her own? And will the overwhelmingly conservative leaning electors of North Down be content with that?

UUP and Conservative Candidate

I am delighted at being selected as candidate for Lagan Valley for the Ulster Unionist and Conservative parties.

The link between the Ulster Unionist Party and the Conservative Party is the obvious and natural course of action for the UUP at this stage in the implementation of the constitutional settlement we achieved in 1998.

Anyone who suggests that it is an electoral pact made for cheap gain demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of Unionism. At the heart of Unionism lies the preservation of the Union, but not in any subordinate capacity, or as a lesser part of the United Kingdom. Yes, there have been times over the past fifty years when we felt we were clinging on to the edge of the Union, but there has been a sea change in the attitude of our fellow Brits to Northern Ireland in the past few years, and we in the UUP have recognised and welcomed this. In his party conference speech, David Cameron who we expect to be the next Prime Minister said this ‘I am passionate about our Union and I will never do anything to put it at risk. And because of the new political force we have created with the Ulster Unionists, I’m proud that at the next election we will be the only party fielding candidates in every part of the United Kingdom.’ And as he said it he looked directly at David and me sitting in the audience.

Conservatives and Unionists are offering Ulster voters of whatever religious persuasion the opportunity to play a fuller role in the politics of the state. Our MPs will not sit in Westminster on the sidelines, but will be an integral part of the next party of government. No other party can offer as much.

We are doing what we can to bring normal politics to Northern Ireland; if we make progress in this at the election then I expect Labour to follow suit and field candidates here. Our actions have the potential to transform politics; to allow people to choose between the sets of social and economic policies offered by the parties that aspire to govern them, rather than simply registering their adherence to a particular national tradition or aspiration.