A Christmas Truce?
The budget announcements are over and Stormont's Great Hall is now full of chairs ready for a carol service tonight. The
The Health Minister Michael McGimpsey is thought to be unhappy with his allocation, but he's staying quiet for now. That may reflect a sense that the pre-Christmas period is no time for shroud waving. So perhaps the minister will observe a Christmas truce before resuming hostilities in the New Year.
The Ulster Unionists say they will study the budget in detail - their dillemma: go on the attack and prompt reprisal accusations that those who live in a Tory glasshouse shouldn't throw stones.
The SDLP has welcomed aspects of the budget, but backbencher Conall McDevitt has already been identifying holes in the education and road budgets.
Outside the Assembly, the TUV reckons it's bad for business and asks why nothing has been done to cut the number of MLAs and departments. The trade unions don't like the civil service pay freeze, but their Coalition Against Water Charges likes the fact these won't be imposed for the next four years.
The consultation on the draft budget is set to close on February 9th. The bare bones aren't likely to change much, but the document still leaves a lot of detail to be fleshed out on the extra revenue schemes which have been so heavily trailed.
I'm 
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