Whilst the Conservative Party spring forum takes place in Cheltenham, the Ulster Unionst Party Annual General Meeting is being held in Belfast.
David Cameron is obviously unable to be there in person, but he sent a video message in which he reaffirmed his commitment to the new political force which is bringing the two parties together to fight Westminster and European elections.
He was especially keen to highlight his desire to see MPs from all parts of the UK - not least Northern Ireland - playing a full role in the nation's politics and government:
"I believe the time is right for Northern Ireland to be brought back into the mainstream of United Kingdom politics... I want MPs from Northern Ireland serving in a Conservative
Government at Westminster. I want to draw on the talents of people from
all parts of the United Kingdom. That's my selfish strategic interest. Northern Ireland can move on from focusing on constitutional battles, because the constitutional issue is settled."
He also talked about the forthcoming Euroepan election, for which UUP MEP Jim Nicholson will be the first candidate seeking election under the new banner:
"It is vital that we get Jim Nicholson returned to the European
Parliament and for him to take his place as part of the strong
Conservative team of MEPs. He will be part of the only group of
UK MEPs committed to co-operating in Europe rather than centralising
more power there; and to bringing some powers back to the UK where they
belong. Jim has my full backing as the joint candidate of the
Conservatives and Unionists at these elections, and I look forward to
campaigning with him next month."
Jonathan Isaby
"He was especially keen to highlight his desire to see MPs from all parts of the UK - not least Northern Ireland - playing a full role in the nation's politics and government:"
As Westminster now only rules England, what Cameron is saying is he wants them engaged in Governing England. Thanks Dave!
"because the constitutional issue is settled."
And no the constitutional issue is not settled, not by a long way.
Posted by: Iain | April 25, 2009 at 13:53
I really can't see why he shouldn't have MPs from Northern Ireland playing a role in his team providing they broadly agree with conservative principles.
I live in Scotland and I'd be pretty angry if someone were to say all Tories from Scottish constituencies should not be playing any part in the Conservative Party.
It's true there is a constitutional mess and short of closing the Scottish Parliament down (which would be my preferred option) the plan to ban non-English MPs from voting on English only matters is probably the best solution we're going to get. Other than that I can't see any reason why Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs can't be playing a role in the Conservative Party, especially on the back benches.
After all, what's the alternative? Withdraw the whip from every Conservative MP from Scotland and Wales and just rule with the English MPs alone (if you can). That would just make the constitutional crisis worse.
Posted by: Vote to Legalise | April 25, 2009 at 14:52
"It's true there is a constitutional mess and short of closing the Scottish Parliament down (which would be my preferred option)"
I agree 100% with you on this. Of course the situation in Northern Ireland is somewhat more difficult. With the power sharing deal with the republicans. It is heartening that D.C. has not ruled out ending the Scottish and Welsh experiment. Perhaps he is simply indicating that Northern Ireland is in a more difficult position. I cannot say I agree that "the constitutional issue is settled". In fact I think D.C. is being naive if he imagines that the Republicans will be content for power sharing to continue forever.
Posted by: Ross Warren | April 25, 2009 at 15:58
This is not enough. Cameron also ought to take urgent steps to re-establish strong British links with Anglo-Africa. Our kith and kin have been dying in southern Africa for over a decade now - and the British government has done nothing. Paul Boateng has spent the past five years living in the lap of luxury in Cape Town while the English settlements all along the Cape, in Durban, and in Jo'Burg, have been living under practical siege from gangsters and murderers. It is quite disgraceful. (And I haven't even mentioned Zim).
The position of these folk is likely to get even worse now that Jacob Zuma has suggested that English-speakers are not "real Africans".
If a Conservative government stands for anything, then it is surely for protecting those men and women in ex-Crown lands in Africa who are proud to call themselves Engelsmen.
Posted by: Viscount Crouchback | April 25, 2009 at 19:21
"because the constitutional issue is settled."
wishful thinking?
Try getting anyone outside the Westminster bubble to agree with that.
Posted by: Jake | April 25, 2009 at 20:19
Slightly off topic but I was one of the Scots naive enough to vote for that damn parliament in the first place - but I was only 20 at the time, that's my excuse ;)
All we got was 129 talentless party hacks dicking about with their own petty little projects - it's not like the 'parliament' normally has much serious business.
What's more these useless idiots get to create laws without a 2nd chamber even reviewing what they are doing. One time they set out to liberalise the alcohol licensing laws (something that really needed done), and thanks to a bit of 'tough on drunks' amendment posturing by some Labour and SNP back bencher's so many amendments went in that the idiots forgot what they were supposed to be voting for and went and restricted the sale of alcohol even more! Then admitted it was a mistake and they didn't really mean to vote for that, but said it was still becoming law regardless.
To make matters worse, we can't even get rid of certain MSPs because if we vote them out and they lose their constituency seats they come back on the closed party list. For example my MSP is a man called Nicol Steven. He's a Lib Dem, you'd expect Lib Dems to be liberal but the Scottish Lib Dems aren't - in fact he lost my vote when he and his crew of so called 'liberals' (bar one) voted to clamp down on prostitution and made Aberdeen's prostitution tolerance zone legally unsustainable. How 'liberal' is that! Then I discovered that if me, and many of his other constituents in Aberdeen South, voted him out we would only end up with him as one of our regional MSPs because he was first place on the Lib Dems regional closed party list. It's the hacks that climb up through their party hierarchy that get a sure spot on the lists, not the candidates that the voters actually want.
The place is a joke too. Seriously, have you even seen it? It looks like some art student designed it after dropping some bad acid. It ran 10 times over budget too and ended up costing around half a billion quid, but nobody was held accountable for a little detail like that...
Dave, please do us all a big favour and close the damn place. Say we can't afford it or something. Close Holyrood down. Thanks.
Posted by: Vote to Legalise | April 25, 2009 at 20:23
"As Westminster now only rules England..."
What, no defence, social security, pensions, nuclear power, drugs, tax, public spending, foreign affairs, immigration, human rights, constitutional affairs, Europe, aviation, roads and drivers, ...?
Posted by: Robert | April 25, 2009 at 20:42
I am absolutely delighted with David Cameron's views on Northern Ireland. It is thrilling to have the most 'Unionist' party leader since Douglas-Home at the top. Re-merging with the UUP is something I have wanted to see for years. The paradoxical use of the phrase 'sefish strategic' (gleaned from the Downing St declaration) is very heartening.
Thank God someone is prepared to embrace and defend the whole of the United Kingdom.
Posted by: Giles Clifton | April 26, 2009 at 08:52