Stormont 'mudslinging' distraction from 'real scandal' of civil servants not getting pay rise before Christmas: SDLP
Angry scenes at Stormont between the DUP and Sinn Féin are a “distraction from the real scandal”, the SDLP has stated – that civil servants won’t get a pay rise before Christmas.
Today saw bitter exchanges in a Stormont scrutiny committee, as the DUP’s Phillip Brett address the First minister over her party’s past handling of sexual abuse cases.
Michelle O’Neill appeared to threaten to sue him if her repeated his claims about Sinn Féin outside of the context of the committee, stating: “Say it outside this room Phillip and I’ll see you in court.
“You can be a big, brave man sitting on this committee, but you’ll not be outside the door.”
The meeting ended with the First Minister walking out of the committee before its scheduled stop time, having earlier stated she needed to go by 3pm to make it to a Belfast city centre police station for a PSNI interview over her participation in a large protest that last month blocked the first permitted Orange Order parade in almost 30 years from travelling down Portadown’s Garvaghy Road.
After her departure, DUP MLA Debroah Erskine accused her of treating the scrutiny committee and the people of Northern Ireland with contempt.
SDLP opposition leader Matthew O’Toole has now branded those exchanges “mudslinging” between the Assembly’s two biggest parties – arguing it “distracted from the real scandal unfolding elsewhere at Stormont” as it was revealed it’s now too late for a pay deal that was to be part of Stormont’s budget to feature in the civil service’s Christmas wages.
He stated: “While the first ministers and their parties were trading insults across the committee room, just down the corridor officials were confirming the cost of the executive’s failure to govern.
"The public are tired of the shouting matches, the finger-pointing and the political theatre. They want ministers focused on decisions affecting their lives.
“Today’s scenes exposed everything that’s wrong with this executive. While the two largest parties were busy attacking each other, more than 20,000 civil servants learned they have no prospect of seeing a pay increase in their Christmas pay packet.
“That’s the real story from Stormont today. The mudslinging and manufactured outrage won’t hide the fact that this executive has failed to agree a budget, and ordinary workers are paying the price.”