Editorial: Serious financial mismanagement at Stormont has its roots in a story of political cowardice and incompetent governance

​The huge problem with finances at Stormont can be explained in the following straightforward way.

​Politicians of all parties pander to voters by offering higher pay and higher benefits (the latter by refusing to implement benefits reforms as in Great Britain).

Politicians then pander to voters by refusing to make efficiencies in services (they fail to challenge the inaccurate perception that more efficiently delivered services are merely cuts).

Finally, politicians pander to voters by refusing to outline the respects in which it is fair to ask households to pay more, such as water charges. The refusal to do this is one reason why our water infrastructure is falling apart (and then planners say that we do not have the infrastructure to approve new developments, and advise against proceeding, politicians merely impose approval).

It is a story of political cowardice and incompetent governance.

One manifestation of this is persistently declining services, and overspends – a failure to live within budgets. At which point another contemptible thing happens: politicians of all parties say that the devolved executive is not getting enough money from London. Unionists typically agree with nationalists about this, and the impression goes out to the public that the UK is a mean state that is failing the province, in contrast to a wealthy, generous Republic of Ireland. It is extraordinary that unionists are helping this narrative.

Now, once again, the Treasury has bailed out Stormont with a £400m bail out.

Sir Robert Chote, the distinguished chair of the NI Fiscal Council, has said that continued short term support from the Treasury reduces pressure on the executive “to deal with some of the big choices that confront it”. What he describes as “serious financial mismanagement” is being normalised, he said. How depressingly true.