The Party of Division
The Bill which is due to empower a Boundaries Commissioner to draw up the borders for our 11 proposed super councils was due to take up just an hour of the Assembly's time this morning. But trench warfare ensued over a series of amendments, many of which were proposed by Alliance, trying either to reinstate a 15 council model or to preserve the integrity of the new council areas. They started at 10.30 am, and they are still going as I write, which is nearly 5pm.
A moment ago the Deputy Speaker David McClarty tried to short circuit one of the votes by ruling that a shouted result was sufficient. But this drew objections from the Alliance leader David Ford who accused the Deputy Speaker of abandoning parliamentary precedent. Ian Paisley sprang to the Deputy Speaker's support, but Mr Ford recalled that the DUP had formally divided the House of Commonson one occasion when they were the only two MPs opposed to a measure.
This drew the put down from the Deputy Speaker that "this is not another place, this is this place".
The keenness of Alliance to formally divide the house prompted Sinn Fein's Mitchel McLaughlin to describe them as "the party of division". Needless to say Alliance reject this insisting on their right to have their opposition recorded.
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