Amnesties and Covenants 3
Some are interpreting comments from Gordon Brown in the Commons today as a squelch to any talk of an amnesty. I am not so sure. True he said "yes" when starting to answer Nigel Dodds' question calling on him to utterly rule out such a move, but it could have been a "yes" to the earlier comments from the DUP MP paying tribute to the role played by the security forces here. The PM then generalised about the need for reconciliation in what sounded like an attempt not to tie himself down too much on the issue. All a bit ambiguous.
The "government line" appears to have been articulated by the Secretary of State Shaun Woodward a few moments earlier, who dodged the question by quoting Denis Bradley's comments that "nothing is ruled in and nothing is ruled out".
NIQs was fairly predictable with Mr Woodward sticking to his hope that justice can be transferred this year, and Nigel Dodds telling him his efforts were proving counterproductive.
The Labour MP Jim Devine has been making headlines recently by telling the Duke of York that he should pay for bodyguards for his daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, rather than expecting the taxpayer to provide the half a million pounds required to protect them as they "flirt and flaunt their way through the nightclubs of Europe".
Mr Devine kicked NIQs off with a question about the future of security bases here. During the exchanges that followed, the Secretary of State confirmed that discussions are continuing between Downing Street, the MoD, the NIO and the Executive over the future development of bases over and above those previously gifted to the Executive.
Mr Woodward praised the idea that two bases in Omagh could be turned into an educational village providing a home for a number of local schools, but he also said he didn't want to raise false hopes. Essentially, the Executive would like bases such as the ones in Omagh to be handed over free of charge, whilst the MoD wants to charge the market rate. It will probably take a decision from Downing Street to sort this one out.
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DON’T LOSE YOUR BALLS GIRLS!
Nice one from the Labour MP Jim Devine on the cost to the tax payer for providing security for the Princesses, Beatrice and Eugenie. Let's hope they don't start playing golf like their father as the cost would probably double or even treble and free helicopter rides on the European golf circuit!.
Perhaps we should have a little sympathy for the protection squad spending endless hours looking for the lost balls while the Princesses refresh themselves with cocktails at the nineteenth hole. Who said being a Royal is hard work?