Mystery over Opposition attack document that Stormont Castle can't find

On December 5 – just the day before the eruption of the RHI scandal which would topple devolution the following month – the Belfast Telegraph prominently reported that it obtained a leaked copy of what was described as an “informal briefing note” on the Stormont Opposition.

The newspaper reported that “using comic put-downs, it mocks the Ulster Unionist and SDLP attempts so far to provide an official Opposition”.

The paper was apparently entitled ‘The Craggy Island Opposition’, likening the then UUP leader Mike Nesbitt and SDLP leader Column Eastwood to the hapless priests in the Father Ted sitcom.

It went on: “The SDLP and UUP are good at being negative, at running down not just the Executive but public services. Mike and Colum have been likened to Steptoe and Son.”

That reference – in a briefing note apparently prepared for the first minister and deputy first minister – was bizarre because the only individual to have likened the Opposition leaders to ‘Steptoe and Son’ was Arlene Foster, meaning that the note was seeming to inform her about a comment she had made.

It went on to say: “It has been suggested that having a credible, joint Opposition will improve Assembly politics.

“That can only be judged when or if one ever comes along. At the minute all we have is a Craggy Island Alliance. And that’s not a blessing.”

Using the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act, the News Letter asked The Executive Office (TEO) for a copy of all material associated with the document.

However, the department has now responded to say that it holds no information about the note.

In a letter to the News Letter, a departmental official said: “I am writing to confirm that TEO has now completed its search for this information and has established that this information is not held by the department.”

Last night Mike Nesbitt raised serious concerns about how the department had been operating, asking if it had used other deniable attacks – because no information apparently was held at the department – to target the Opposition.

The Strangford MLA, who resigned as UUP leader following March’s Assembly election, told the News Letter that it was “most peculiar that they are now denying all knowledge of a document that was very unusual in its content and tone but had the ring of truth about it [in that it seemed to have come from someone in the department].”

He asked “to what extent a document of that content and tone represented a departure in the communications policy of the last Executive or was a one-off” and added: “The fact they’re denying its existence would further undermine my confidence in the idea that The Executive Office is at all times transparent in answering requests for information and indeed their track record on FoI requests is far from impressive.”

And, drawing attention the fact that the briefing note was published just as the Executive itself was about to implode over the RHI scheme, he said: “Some people take views on the Opposition and while you’d have preferred a five-year mandate before an election, I am in no doubt that by leaving the two big parties alone in Stormont Castle we precipitated the collapse of the Executive in a matter of months.

“Here’s a document coming out just before the collapse which is not about how do we deal with what is potentially the biggest financial crisis in the history of the state but about how do we undermine the status of the Opposition in the court of public opinion.

“That tells you all you need to know about the last Executive’s priorities.”