A Close Shave
MLAs had a terrifying ordeal around noon today. They were in the Assembly departure lounge about to board a budget airline debate about Belfast City Airport, when a call went out over the Stormont tannoy.
The Captain (aka First Minister and East Belfast MP Peter Robinson) warned his passengers that they might be about to enter constitutional turbulence.
The motion due for debate called on the Environment Minister Sammy Wilson to set up an inquiry into the proposed runway extension at the airport. But, in an assembly used to making calls that come to nothing, Captain Robinson wanted to make MLAs aware that their motion might actually make a difference.
Under existing planning law, he pointed out, the Environment Minister had to weigh all kinds of criteria before ordering an inquiry. The First Minister said if the Assembly passed its motion it would place the Minister in an impossible situation.
The motion's advocates weren't convinced they had the power to direct the Environment Minister to order an inquiry. But the close shave with the possibility that a Stormont debate might make a practical difference caused MLAs to shudder.
In the end a majority voted in favour of a watered down motion calling on the Environment Minister to "take note" of the Assembly's support for an inquiry.
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