Steve Aiken: The flaws in the Stormont ministerial bill could haunt us for years to come

Regrettably on Tuesday the assembly passed what is by any reckoning poor and badly thought out legislation.

The fact that the junior ministers admitted that no changes in planning, which this bill was supposedly about, can be enacted until the revised ministerial code is brought before the assembly in either the autumn or early winter, shows that there was ample time to give this bill proper consideration.

The flaws highlighted in this process also re-emphasise that no lessons have been learnt since the Renewable Heat Incentive scandal.

While we did not manage to defeat the bill, the fact that some DUP MLAs chose to abstain in person shows the considerable disquiet that there is across much of the assembly in this process.

I fear that the flaws in this bill could haunt us for many years to come.

Steve Aiken OBE MLA, Ulster Unionist Party leader, Stormont

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