MLA: Jeffrey Donaldson's letter about me was unhelpful and at one point nasty

In a letter published in last Saturday's edition of the News Letter ('˜I regret that a unionist MLA has not welcomed the £1.5bn the DUP has delivered NI.' July 15) Sir Jeffrey Donaldson accused me of '˜reverting to type' and misrepresenting the position of his party.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is held aloft by supporters after being easily returned as DUP MP for Lagan Valley, after which he as chief whip at Westminster helped secure a deal with the Conservative Party. 

Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.comSir Jeffrey Donaldson is held aloft by supporters after being easily returned as DUP MP for Lagan Valley, after which he as chief whip at Westminster helped secure a deal with the Conservative Party. 

Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is held aloft by supporters after being easily returned as DUP MP for Lagan Valley, after which he as chief whip at Westminster helped secure a deal with the Conservative Party. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com

Anyone who knows me at all will know that is not the sort of negative or immature politics that I engage in.

I also don’t think it’s particularly helpful for people to be throwing criticism at fellow unionists, especially at this time when Sinn Fein continue to try to hold the country to ransom for their flawed interpretation of equality.

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Of course I welcome any new money coming to Northern Ireland.

Robbie Butler MLA (Ulster Unionist Lagan Valley)Robbie Butler MLA (Ulster Unionist Lagan Valley)
Robbie Butler MLA (Ulster Unionist Lagan Valley)

That includes the money secured from the current UK government and I do hope that the major uncertainty that has developed last week in relation to whether it is now dependent on a fully re-established executive is quickly put to bed.

The crisis in our public services is too deep and too severe for them to once again be hit with broken promises.

In his letter Sir Jeffrey said that an additional £50m per year for five years had been secured by himself and his party to improve mental health services but when I read what it said in the government’s finance deal it says it’s actually £10m a year.

That’s a not-insignificant difference of £200m.

The idea that blocking a fair pay rise for public sector workers was necessary to prevent the Jeremy Corbyn from becoming prime minister "is nothing more than a smokescreen"The idea that blocking a fair pay rise for public sector workers was necessary to prevent the Jeremy Corbyn from becoming prime minister "is nothing more than a smokescreen"
The idea that blocking a fair pay rise for public sector workers was necessary to prevent the Jeremy Corbyn from becoming prime minister "is nothing more than a smokescreen"
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I really hope it was an error on the government’s part because as a result a lack of leadership and mismanagement by local health ministers our mental health services have been neglected over recent years.

I will rise above his nasty efforts to mockingly label me as a ‘so-called champion for mental health’.

I’ve never called myself a champion but I am honoured to be the UUP’s spokesperson for the issue, which I would remind Sir Jeffrey will affect at least one in five local people at some stage in their lifetime.

I suspect the real reason behind Sir Jeffrey’s letter was because I dared to express my disappointment that a fair pay rise for public sector workers across the UK had been blocked by the Conservative Party only with the full support of the local DUP MPs.

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The frantic pleas that it was necessary to prevent the Jeremy Corbyn from becoming prime minister are nothing more than a smokescreen. I didn’t want to make this a party political issue, but the reality is our police officers, our health workers and all the other emergency services have not had a fair pay rise in an awfully long time.

Up until 18 months ago I was a full-time fire-fighter so I was simply using my actual real life experience to convey how badly our public sector workers have been, and now evidently will continue to be, treated.

Robbie Butler, Ulster Unionist MLA, Lagan Valley