Monthly Archives: November 2014

Jim Allister clashed with deputy speaker Roy Beggs during a debate last week By Noel McAdam – 15 October 2014 Traditional Unionist leader Jim Allister has been barred from speaking in the Assembly for a month. The ‘gag’ came after the North Antrim MLA clashed with Ulster Unionist deputy speaker Roy Beggs in the chamber last week. It is believed to be the first month-long ban imposed on an MLA, although the period includes the Halloween recess. The Speaker’s Office decided the punishment had to be longer than his last ban in 2011. Mr Allister blamed the latest gag on deputy principal Speaker Mitchel McLaughlin, after he reminded MLAs on Monday that the Sinn Fein member had claimed in 2005 that the IRA murder of Belfast woman Jean McConville was not a crime. Mr McLaughlin failed to be elected Speaker after failing to get DUP support. Mr Allister described his … Continue reading →

East Antrim MLA Roy Beggs has led the annual service of remembrance at the Assembly in his role as Deputy Speaker. The MLA read a lesson, laid a wreath and led the last post ceremony, which took place in Stormont’s Senate Chamber. Mr Beggs commented: “It was an honour to lead the service alongside Deputy Speaker Dallat MLA and Dr Malcolm McKibbin, the Head of the Civil Service. It is important that we remember the fact that so many of our forefathers sacrificed their tomorrow for our today. “We will be forever in their debt and the living owe it to those who can no longer speak, to tell their story for them.” The Ulster Unionist Party representative for East Antrim continued: “The Senate Chamber was used as part of the war effort during WW2, as an RAF operational HQ. Indeed, the first sighting of the Bismarck was reported to … Continue reading →

If the Equality Commission wants to clarify the law surrounding a bakery’s refusal to make a pro-gay marriage cake, it should fund both sides of the case, a DUP MP has said. William McCrea, in whose South Antrim constituency Ashers Baking Company is based, said that a poll which showed that only 25 per cent of the public in Great Britain support the commission’s actions demonstrated that the quango was “on the wrong side of the arguments and the wrong side of public opinion”. As reported by the News Letter on Tuesday, the YouGov poll of more than 2,000 adults across England, Scotland and Wales found that almost two thirds (65 per cent) of those surveyed objected to the bakery being taken to court for refusing to put the slogan ‘Support gay marriage’ on a cake ordered by a gay rights activist. The Rev McCrea said: “The arguments put forward … Continue reading →