David Thompson: You can't fix stupid - why Stormont reform can only take us so far

The phrase came to mind amid all the talk about reforming Stormont in recent weeks, as if a bit of a facelift for power-sharing could somehow transform how we are governed.

Reform is always necessary in any institution, and the scale and nature of it will be discussed ad nauseum over the coming months and years.

But what it won’t fix is a way of thinking at Stormont – among swathes of MLAs – which defies the norms of parliamentary democracies the world over. The attitude of some of our parties is, quite frankly, stupid.

Just this week, we had the TUV’s Timothy Gaston accused – not for the first time – of “badgering” a witness, and having a legitimate question closed down.

He had sought answers from the Head of the Civil Service Jayne Brady over her attendance at Belfast Pride in the past. Holding aloft an image of her waving a ‘progress’ trans rights flag, the TUV MLA asked “What part of that is impartial?”

An entirely legitimate question, coming as it did after the civil service pulled out of this year’s parade over impartiality concerns.

It’s the sort of question that in any other parliament would be run of the mill, and may prompt a challenge from an opponent. What wouldn’t happen is the pearl clutching we see from Sinn Fein and Alliance MLAs.

Overseeing proceedings at the Executive Office (TEO) committee was Alliance’s Stewart Dickson – who remarked “You’re showing her pictures and things like that” – before closing down Mr Gaston.

The TUV man knows exactly how to push the buttons of his rivals, but it should not be so easy for him.

It’s only easy because some of the Stormont parties, Alliance, the SDLP and most bizarrely Sinn Fein, have become so deferential to some organisations they have no real appetite for awkward exchanges – and certainly not if it challenges their world view.

The committee’s usual chair Paula Bradshaw has criticised Mr Gaston for questioning witnesses rather than listening to their “lived experience”. Of course, Ms Bradshaw has questioned some groups giving evidence, like the Women’s Rights Network, seeking evidence for some of the assertions made by them – as she should.

Before Timothy Gaston’s arrival, the TEO committee at times felt like an episode of the nineties sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. Paula Bradshaw made for a good Hyacinth Bucket, making sure nobody upset the vicar (played by whoever was up to preach about their lived experience that day).

Mr Gaston now plays the part of Onslow. While not to everyone’s taste, he often says what the audience is thinking – as Hyacinth apologises profusely to the vicar for her uncouth in-law.

Similar attitudes prevail in the Assembly chamber. So much of what passes for debate or scrutiny is little more than virtue signalling. Just take a look at the debates over the conversion therapy bill in recent weeks. What was most remarkable was that across the benches in favour – Alliance and nationalists – there were no critical friends of the bill.

Nobody who supported Eóin Tennyson’s plan, but had truly difficult questions about the way he was going about it. It was left to unionists to do that, lest it be clipped up and a party accused of some form of phobia.

There are a spectrum of views on the unionist benches on the issue, from the TUV who have no truck with anything ‘LGBTQ+’ to the UUP who oppose the principle of trying to force gay people to change their sexual orientation. Where there was unanimity in unionism was in opposition to introducing the nebulous concept of gender identity into the law. That was central to the debate, because if you can’t even say how many genders there are – how can you legislate on it?

Yet the principal deputy speaker Carál Ní Chuilín said MLAs could not to raise questions about how many gender identities there are. This was a gift to Mr Tennyson, closing down challenge on a fundamental flaw in his bill.

While Stormont reform couldn’t stop such a daft decision, it should allow for greater transparency afterwards. The Speaker Edwin Poots said this week that he and his deputies “routinely review and reflect on the management of debates”. There must be a mechanism for dealing with decisions as daft as this.

Unionists have been at their own brand of nonsense in the Assembly – earning themselves a ticking off from Speaker Edwin Poots after attempts to talk out Alliance legislation on regulating flags. And across the house, Mr Poots condemned the “aggressive tone and language” of some recent exchanges – saying all parties were involved.

While aggression is unnecessary and unbefitting of the people we elect to pass laws for us, there must be robust and open discussion. Clearly, none of our MLAs are stupid. They’ve convinced voters to trust them, if nothing else.

But the attitudes their parties are taking to some issues are stupid. It’s as if by rocking the boat a little, or upsetting certain groups, Stormont might come crashing down round their ears. Ironically, their attempts to stifle challenge and free speech pose a much bigger threat.

It is the gift that keeps on giving for the TUV, whose very mission is to bring these institutions down. No amount of Stormont reform can fix that.