The National Union of Students-Union of Students in Ireland

This is a guest piece from Alexander Redpath, a member of Lagan Valley Young Unionists.

The National Union of Students-Union of Students in Ireland, Northern Ireland’s national student’s union elected two Ulster Unionists to their nation executive committee. NUS-USI has in recent years earned a reputation as an “extremist liberal organisation” and recent arguments over the Israel-Palestine dispute and NUS-USI’s controversial abortion policy have reinforced this. Taking this into consideration it was even more impressive that the two Unionists secured their seats at the executive  table.

Alexander Redpath NUS-USI Deputy President-elect said,

“I was surprised when I heard I had been elected. I have never tried to hide my views at NUS-USI and I have upset a lot of people by standing up for broadly conservative values. However I relish the challenge ahead of me and I hope that my election will encourage other Unionists to get involved in their national union. I have been involved with NUS-USI since joining Queen’s I have always believed that the National Union should be for everyone. I have fought hard to change the political ethos of the organisation. Trying to move it away from the extremist views that have marginalised its influence  in the student community. NUS-USI has to make a conscious effort to avoid adopting positions which its members cannot support. The abortion issue is a key example of this.”

Alexander also outlined what he hoped to do over the year,

“I hope to work actively in some key areas in NUS-USI. One priority is to improve the National Union’s public image. For too long the image of the National Union has been tainted. Students are seen by some as unconstructive, obstructionist and unwilling to accept responsibility for their actions. This image was created by ill advised campaigns and protests such as the recent Socialist Society protest against “Police Brutality” in the Holy Lands. This protest involved NUS-USI officers. We need to remake the image of the National Union and the image of students in general by highlighting our hard work, industry and our care for the community around us.

I also look forward to building up the union movement in FE institutions. FE institutions are too often forgotten by the National Union. This is unacceptable. The strength of the union depends on the unity of all students whether FE or HE.”

The new executive committee takes office in July and both Ulster Unionist officers hope to continue the party’s century old tradition of serving their community.

Labour in Chaos!

Normally this headline would please me as I would see myself as a Conservative in terms of my views on British politics.However at this time this is actually a major threat to the Union.Labour are the only party in the UK to have success in Scotland,Wales and England. The Conservative party in Scotland for example has only the 1 Westminster seat(Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale.)Contrast this to Labour who have 40 of the 59 Westminster seats in Scotland(including the Speaker.)



The problem comes in that the party in Scotland who are gaining most from Labour's unpopularity is the Scottish Nationalist Party.This was most clearly shown in the election to the Scottish Parliament where the SNP gained 20 seats and became the biggest party at Holyrood.On top of this the SNP led administration in Scotland has been widely regarded as a success with the charismatic 1st Minister Alex Salmond becoming very popular.Further evidence of this was shown in the Telegraph on July 11th where a You Gov poll gave the SNP a 4 point lead in the polls for Westminster Elections for the first time.If these results where repeated across Scotland however Labour would still be the biggest party with 31 seats however the SNP would gain 8 seats to 14 overall.



Of course all this brings me to the Glasgow East by-election which normally would prove an easy Labour victory and with the SNP needing a swing 0f over 20% an SNP gain would seem unlikely.However the truth of the matter is the SNP will never have a better chance of gaining the seat.The Scottish Labour party in recent weeks have lost their leader Wendy Alexander over a debate on her expenses.Labour also made a mess of selecting their candidate when Glasgow councilor George Ryan withdrew from the race and eventually MSP Margaret Curran was selected.Also on top of this Gordon Brown's position as Labour Leader has come under fire due to poor by-election results in Henley where the Green party and BNP beat Labour into 5th place as well as in Crewe and Nantwich where Labour lost its 7,000 majority and saw a 16% swing to the Tories who won with a 7,000 majority.Anyway a party divided is never very popular with voters.Also lets not forget the recent downturn in the economy and the growing price of living.

The EU-Where a "No" Isn't a No

By now you will have heard the news that The Republic of Ireland has rejected the Lisbon Treaty.Whilst I am sure you will appreciate the irony I completely agree with the 54% of Irish voters who voted "NO".However what has annoyed me about this whole scenario is the reaction by various European diplomats.First we have Brown telling the Press that he will press ahead with the treaty then the E.U President Jose Barroso intends to continue ratifying the same Treaty.This is completely undemocratic the 1 country to hold a Referendum on the treaty rejects it.Also on top of this the people of France and the Netherlands rejected the constitution in 2005 which in the words of Bertie Ahern is 95% the same as the Lisbon treaty.

This in my view is a clear example of the Governments ignorning the wishes of the people.The reason Brown bottled a U.K referendum was simply because he knew that Britons would vote No.In France and the Netherlands these countries where also denied votes.Probably because they could not be trusted to return the Wanted result.Also when the E.U doesn't get what it wants it makes countries vote until they do get there way as in Ireland in 2002 just 12 months after rejecting the Nice Treaty they where made to vote on it once again.

This time I hope the European leaders understand that when the people say "NO" they mean it.

Less than 48 hours on from 42 days

On Wednesday Parliament, by a majority of nine, voted to extend the period for which a terror suspet can be held without charge from 28 to 42 days. All ten Unionist MPs supported the move, as did UKIP's sole MP, Dr Robert Spink and Ann Widdecombe. The Labour Party did not do this on its own.

In the wake of such a result, Shadow Home Secretary resigned his seat (Haltemprice and Howden), intending to stand again on a platform of opposing "the slow strangulation of fundamental British freedoms by this government.". The Liberal Democrats announced that, in support of Mr Davis' stance, they would not field a candidate. At the time of writing, the Labour Party has not made clear whether or not they will contest this election, with Prime Minister Brown dismissing it as a 'stunt'. Former Sun editor has declared his intention to run on a pro 42 day agenda, should Labour not put somebody forward.

Interpretation of this piece of news comes from all angles, some suggesting conviction politics, others citing it reveals divisions at the top of the Conservative Party.

One parallel that is drawn is with the 1986 Ulster by-elections, when all 15 Unionist MPs resigned their seats to fight on an Anti-Anglo-Irish Agreement platform. The similarities and differences are interesting.

The purpose of the Ulster by-elections was to give voters a chance to reject the AIA - a mini referendum. Mr Davis seems to be trying to prove a point. Furthermore, in Northern Ireland there were multiple contests, all involving Unionism's most senior figures. Over in England there's just one, and his support amongst the Conservative Party's leading lights is questionable.

Back in 1986, a pact was agreed such that only one anti agreement candidate would fight each seat, particularly important in Mid Ulster where Willie McCrea was defending a 78 majority over SF, and the UUP had taken over 7000 in 1983. In Haltemprice and Howden we do have parties with similar positions supporting one another.

In 1986, the SDLP and SF decided only to contest winnable, or nationalist majority seats. In most areas Unionists relied on the Alliance or Workers party for pro-agreement opponents. Yet in East Londonderry, Strangford, North Antrim and South Antrim nobody was prepared to stand against the incumbents. The Unionists needed to find their own opponents. Over in East Yorkshire, it seems that Labour will not stand, but Mr Davis will find a serious ideological opponent. There is talk of a OMRLP challenge.

Of course the results and consequenes cannot be examined yet. In 1986 14 Unionists were returned (all save Jim Nicholson). Of those that were the majorities ranged from 1842 to 33024. I shall be paying close attention as to how Mr Davies' by-election unfolds...

Belfast — City of Sinn?

In wake of the City's second Sinn Féin mayor, it may be worth pausing to consider how firm the Unionist grip on the City actually is. 

Sinn Féin made its debut entry into Belfast politics during the 1982 Assembly Elections when Gerry Adams topped the poll in the Belfast West constituency, and became the first member to be elected in Northern Ireland. His running mate, Alex Maskey wasn't quite so lucky, but did win a by-election in Upper Falls the following year becoming the first Sinn Féin councillor in Belfast. Furthermore, in the General election of the same year, Gerry Adams was elected to serve in the British House of Commons, defeating Belfast West's incumbent independent socialist, the late Gerry Fitt. 

In 1985, Sinn Féin stood across Belfast City Council and took 7 seats, outpolling the SDLP. Adams held unto his seat in 1987 and in 1989 the position was consolidated. Yet, 3 years later, during the 1992 General Election, a massive tactical voting campaign delivered a narrow victory to Dr Joe Hendron (SDLP) who ousted Adams by only 589 votes (Although Adams did increase his percentage share of the poll). 

In the 1993 election, for the first time Sinn Féin could claim to be the largest party in the city, taking in excess of 24000 votes.  They did however have fewer councillors than the UUP, and all of these were based in the West or Oldpark areas of the City.

In the mid '90s the four Belfast seats were extended into Newtonabbey, Castlereagh and Lisburn. These boundaries were first used for the 1996 forum elections. Sinn Féin now dominated West Belfast, taking four out of five seats, and won another in the North of the City. The following year, Adams took back Belfast West with an 8000 majority, and weeks later, unionists lost control of the council. the Alliance now held the balance of power, and Alban Maginness, SDLP, became Belfast's first nationalist Lord Mayor. 

This is a textbook example of how Proportional Example can give vast powers to minor parties.

1998 was not especially dramatic for Sinn Féin, they held all 5 seats in the City, however they did progress in Western Ulster. It was in 2001 when major growth took place, and they became the largest group on Belfast council. Two years later, Alex Maskey (with Alliance support) became Sinn Féin's first Lord Mayor, and the party gained seats in North and South Belfast. 

In the most recent set of elections, unionists slipped back further, losing two MLAs across Belfast. One blogger and election analyst saw the DUP gaining seats in North, East and South Belfast (at the expense of the UUP, PUP and SDLP). However the results were such that the DUP gained from the UUP in the East, but lost Diane Dodds' seat to Sinn Féin, and a large split and poor transference cost the UUP a seat in the South, gained by the Alliance (despite having three full quotas!). 

The breakdown of seats in Belfast was :

Sinn Féin —  8

DUP — 6

SDLP —  4 

UUP —  3

Alliance —  2 

PUP —  1 

Now the situation for unionists in Belfast may look pessimistic, but I think it can be turned around. The problem, is that when unionists seem down, they retreat to their traditional old comfort zone, that is attacking each other. This is highly counter productive. For a start it puts UUP voters off transferring to the DUP and vice versa. In addition, and fundamentally, it isn't a glowing advertisement to encourage unionists to actually vote in the first place. Turnout is key. Diane Dodds saw a sharp increase in her vote, but Sinn Féin had its voters motivated and they turned out in drones to secure the coveted fifth seat, and what's more balanced perfectly. A feat that most other parties cannot achieve, or at least haven't achieved so far.

The RPA also gives some hope. Expanding Belfast into some of the neighboring councils (areas that one would clearly see as part of Belfast) might give us a small but important advantage. Unionists did win a majority on the expanded Derry City Council, once, in 1973. Although we cannot afford to let the province's first city go the same way as its second, and boundaries alone will not be enough. Furthermore, we need councillors who will be available for the knife edge votes. Of the city's 25 unionist councillors, 8 are MLAs, 4 of which are also ministers, and two of these MPs. With so many double, triple and even quadruple jobbing, it will not be possible for full unionist attendance, something that must be put right! 

The Bill of Rights -A Waste of Time

As a regular commuter into the City of Belfast it is simply impossible to not notice the massive amount of expense that the Human Rights Consortium has poured into the attempts to set up a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.You simply only need to look at buses with slogans like "There are more peacewalls here than ever before- Make it right" among others to realise this.All this however has left me with a lot of questions one being what difference is a Bill of Rights going to make these objectives.To be honest I cannot see how it can make the slighest difference.I cannot for the life of me figure out how a Bill of Rights will sort out the problems at interface areas.Can you really imagine people in the Ardoyne/Ballysillian for example settling their grievances because of a Bill of Rights?Of course not these greivances will take time no amount of legislation is going to alter that.

Also is there anyone who truly believes that the Unionist community in Northern Ireland is going to gain anything out of this Bill of Rights.Well lets look at the parties who are in favour of a Bill of Rights .Sinn Fein and the SDLP .What is the Unionist position well the TUV,DUP and the UUP are all dead set against it.Hardly a glowing recomendation of the "shared " aspect of a Bill of Rights.On top of this we have to look at the concessions that the Unionist community has given up over the past 30 years in the name of equal rights 1)control of Stormont which is now a "powersharing" executive 2) the imposition of 50/50 quota into the police based not on merit but on religion 3) the taking down of statues and ending of the right to fly the Union flag in the Limavady and Bannbridge Councils.These are just 3 examples of what Unionists have had to give up for rights.

Furthermore we have to rememeber the fact that a Bill of Rights only reflects the period in history that it was written in.Look at the American Bill of Rights one of the ammendments is that "every man has the right to bear arms." This reflects the circumstances of the American nation in the 18th Century when weapons were needed for protection but has gone on to latterly cause problems in many states.In this way a Bill of Rights in Northern Ireland will reflect the needs of 2008 not the needs of future generations.

Finally in conclusion in my own view we have to many rights in our lifes anyway in Northern Ireland for example we have the EU Charter of Human Rights as well as countless laws passed thorough the House of Commons.This laid to a case the other week were a Food critic was sent to court on the basis that a chef was "hurt" by the report surely the food critic was just doing the job they were paid to do!

Dromore by-election

The following piece was written by YU membership and registration officer Alex Redpath, himself from Lagan Valley, on the forthcomming by-election.
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On February the 13th there will be a by-election in Dromore after the resignation of Tyrone Howe. There are 7 candidates running for the seat including a candidate from the newly founded TUV. Our candidate is Carol Black who has worked for Lagan Valley MLA Basil McCrea for 3 years. Carol has lived in dromore for 15 years and is the only candidate from Dromore running in this election.

However this is no mere council election it has far-reaching political consequences on a national scale. This election has turned into a referendum on whether or not you approve of the DUP's actions in regards to the assembly. The DUP have therefore reacted strongly. It is rumored that Peter Robinson himself has delegated responsibility for winning this election to Jeffrey Donaldson and has tasked him with winning a convincing victory so that the DUP can claim a mandate for their actions.

In the last election the DUP polled exactly 3,000 votes the UUP polled 1,884 turnout was 64%. Since this is a by-election we expect turnout to fall to about 48% this means that a projected poll is DUP 2,250 UUP 1,413 the DUP have a majority of 837. In normal circumstances this would be an almost impossible figure to overcome, however with the emergence of the TUV we have a hope. I have heard estimates of the TUV polling between 500-1000 votes these votes will almost exclusively come of the DUP. Even if we take the low figure and deduct about 100 for disillusioned unionists voting again then the DUP's majority falls to 400. Carol is an excellent candidate and has the full support of the MLA. Paul Stewart on the other hand has spent his life working for Jeffrey, lives in Dromara and comes across as a DUP puppet candidate. I have every confidence that this election will be damn close and a UUP victory could be on the cards. I have been on the ground and heard the response and I would put our chances at about 40/60 which is a lot better than you would get of any bookie.

Canvassing has been an interesting experience and the response on the ground is as good as I have ever got. The newer estates are hard going as a lot of people are detached from local issues however in the more established areas we are very strong. I went to one estate of 18 houses. Of these people 10 where in and 8 were solid Ulster unionists. One 89 year old man told me how he had voted DUP for years but now he was so disgusted with how they had acted that he would be voting UUP at the next election. In Another estate I met two elderly ladies who were completely disillusioned with the whole process they blamed the DUP for lying to them and jumping into bed with their so called enemies, these ladies were impressed that Carol was a local candidate for local issues and have pledged their support to the UUP. We were even fortunate enough to pick up a new member along the way who would be perfectly happy to canvass. However it was not all good going. One very elderly gentleman told me he would sooner vote for Sinn Fein than a UUP candidate so evidently the TUV have a vote to catch.

Another positive thing that is coming out of this election is that we are getting experienced canvassing teams who know what we're doing. During the assembly election Basil laid out the idea of having teams of 4 people working semi-independently. This allows us to cover an immense amount of ground and as long as we have one person who has good experience of canvassing we do well. I am not going to make any predictions on this election but I think it is the best chance we have had in a good while we are about 50:50 so we need people out canvassing.

Alex Redpath.