We all remember the good old days leading up to the Brexit Referendum of 2016, when we all took sides and everyone slugged it out on the airwaves, on TV, in the pages of the media and, of course, on Twitter. Before Mr. Musk ensured that most people upped and left Twitter, that was.
It’s felt as though the good old days are back this week, in the wake of Keir Starmer’s EU ‘reset’ deal. But, this time around, we can all argue from a very different perspective. We’ve been living and doing business through a post-Brexit era. So we don’t have to imagine what’s going to happen, as was the case back in 2016.
And so, the deal with the EU has gone down pretty well with business here in Northern Ireland, and business across the UK, for that matter. It’s certainly not all-singing and all-dancing, but it looks as though it will make things easier for businesses here. It’s certainly not going to make them any worse. And that can only be a good thing.
But, while business in general has been giving the deal a fairly warm-ish thumbs up, our politicians, God bless them, have dived into their traditional trenches. The Shinners, SDLP and Alliance have smiled and muttered welcoming platitudes. But the Unionists have ranged from mildly disappointed (like big Gavin Robinson) to absolutely furious (like North Antrim’s Mr. Angry).
As ever, they don’t give a toss what businesses are thinking or saying. They just don’t like the UK cosying up to Johnny Foreigner.
You’d think the DUP would learn. They were royally stitched up by successive Tory leaders. Did they really expect a whole lot better from Keir Starmer, a leftie in expensive suits?
But our politicians are not the only ones split down the middle. Across the water, Nigel Farage’s lot are ripping and so is Kemi Bad Enough, the lady who currently leads what’s left of the Tories. Meanwhile, the Daily Express and Daily Mail are wailing about surrender deals and the like. They love nothing better than inferring that the plucky Brits are somehow giving in to the Germans.
Back on these shores, there’ll be a bit of huffing and puffing but no houses will be blown down. Sammy Wilson and his colleagues can cry on the Westminster benches until the snotters are tripping them. But the PM has a big enough majority to keep calm and carry on.
Meanwhile, for Northern Ireland businesses, it’ll not be earth-shattering but it certainly won’t do any harm. Any good news is always welcome.
Bruiser Mike Comes Out Fighting
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has played a blinder this week. Fed up with being constantly harangued and criticised by Northern Ireland’s whining band of doctors, he reached the end of his ministerial tether.
What happened? He stood up at Stormont and told the medics that he simply didn’t have any more money to give them. The pot was empty, the well had run dry, they could turn his pockets inside out and nothing would fall out.
But he went a bit further than that. Not content with giving them no money, he also told them to smarten up their act and stop the nonsense whereby patients can only try to get a doctor’s appointment between 8.30 and 9.00 in the morning, as well as other restrictive practices dating back to the Covid days.
The Health Minister is absolutely right. Our doctors have got away long enough with clinging on to Covid measures to make life easier for themselves. In future, it should be about patients. They’ve also got away with crying and moaning through the media on a daily basis.
There are some doctors we could mention (but won’t) who certainly seem to spend more time droning on to Stephen Nolan and others than they do seeing patients.
It’s abundantly clear that Mike Nesbitt has listened to the doctors’ whingeing and whining for too long. He snapped and said it like it is. And were they upset? You could almost hear the bottom lips flapping in the wind.
Get on with what you’re paid to do, lads.
The Three Horsemen Of The Economy
It’s been a busy week for our governmental top two, and business has been front and centre. So it’s credit where credit is due time again.
Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly didn’t attend the official opening of one big four accountancy firm office. Nope, they attended two. Monday saw them at The Ewart in the centre of Belfast for Deloitt’e big opening and jobs announcement.
By Tuesday at breakfast time (for some of us), the pair were up on Derry (or Londonderry, in Emma’s case) to do the honours for EY at Ebrington Plaza.
If that wasn’t enough business for one week, they rocked up at Westminster for the Trade NI grouping’s annual reception held on the terrace of the Palace of Westminster. It’s a lobbying event organised by those three horsemen of the economy, Manufacturing NI’s Stephen Kelly, Colin Neill of Hospitality Ulster and Mr. Retail, Glyn Roberts.
Michelle still found time to attend the Covid Inquiry in London (…..is that still going on?) and even put pressure on the PM over one of her other priorities, Gaza.
Let’s hope today and Friday are a bit easier on the poor souls.
Oooh, Minister
Speaking of politicians, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons managed to get himself into a spot of bother last week when he went to address the Impact Players Career Reboot womens event in Belfast.
Apparently, Gordon was enjoying himself so much as he gazed over the audience from the stage that he observed that someone had “put all the good-looking ones at the front”. The only problem for Gordon was that he didn’t just observe it to himself (as we’re still allowed to do without being cancelled). He said it out loud. Ooops.
Cue a few gulps, gasps and (apparently) some groans from the assembled ladies. Once it all reached the wider media, the Minister issued an apology. And his party leader has backed him, underlining his apology and the urging everyone to draw a line under the whole thing.
Or so we’re told by the media. We also had to rely on them to learn about what happened in the first place. We haven’t met anyone who was there, good-looking or otherwise.
Paying A Heavy Price
There’s been plenty of talk on the UK front recently about punishments fitting the crime. What with the right-wingers up in arms over the continued imprisonment of Lucy Connolly, who posted a deeply unpleasant rant on social media in the wake of last summer’s horrific Southport murders.
There are those who think Lucy should be locked up forever for what she said. There are others who reckon that the authorities might be better served chasing after other criminals. We’ll keep our own opinion to ourselves.
Here’s another thought, though. We’d echo the views of Malachy O’Doherty in the Belfast Telegraph this week, writing about the case of the local schoolboy caught taking ‘upskirt’ videos of his teachers.
First up, it’s a terrible thing to do and deeply distressing for those who were the victims of his camera work. But Malachy’s point was this. Did the perpetrator deserve to be dragged through court and identified as part of his punishment?
Lots of us did things when we were 18 that we most certainly wouldn’t do a few years later. At that age, we all have immature minds on adult shoulders.
When we were at school, the few women teachers around would often have been the subject of ribald banter, let’s just say, amongst the older boys. But we’d never heard of upskirting, and mobile communications devices only existed on Star Trek.
Big Brother……It’s 1984 Again
We’ve idly wondered before now whether anyone up in the corridors of power at Stormont keeps an eye on what we’re writing. We’ve heard that they do, but they never write, they never call……
But apparently there is a slightly ominous sounding Media Monitoring Unit within government here.
Speaking in the Assembly earler this week, TUV MLA Timothy Gaston – a regular thorn in the flesh for the big parties – raised his concerns having had some issues getting some information on meetings involving the First Minister.
Mr. Gaston said the documents he did receive revealed unexpected activity by a department he said few knew existed.
“What was disclosed was, frankly, astonishing. Who in the House was aware that the Executive Office operates something called the ‘media monitoring unit’?
He continued: “We do not yet know how many staff it employs or what it costs the taxpayer, but, thanks to my FOI request, we know this: between 7 November and 6 December, the Executive Office had civil servants typing up five full transcripts of interviews featuring me or my staff on The Nolan Show, totalling a whopping 63 pages.”
Think of it this way, Timothy. Imagine how many pages it would be if they included every time your boss, Jim Allister, was on Nolan. They’d need to chop down a forest or two.