Watching their Ps and Qs
The Assembly approved a today. Few will argue against the need for a register for benefits for family members and earnings from outside work. The Standards Committee is also due to get extra teeth, with the explicit power to punish rule breakers by recommending their suspension without pay.
More changes are likely to follow when the Assembly Commission completes its work on financial matters, which is expected to provide a more detailed breakdown of MLA expenses.
One aspect of the new code which should prove interesting is the section which deals with the expression of political opinions. The Standards Committee says "Members are entitled to legally express any political opinion that they may hold. In doing so, however, Members should have regard to the Principles of Conduct and should not express opinions in a manner that is manifestly in conflict with the Principles of Conduct."
Since those principles will now include four new ones related to "Respect; Equality; Promoting Good Relations; and Good Working Relationships", Committee members believe that any racist or homophobic remarks would fall foul of the rules. This applies to remarks uttered outside the chamber, not within it. There could be some interesting test cases, and one MLA the Greens Brian Wilson argued that the clause had the potential to open "a can of worms".
Back in March, for example, Iris Robinson over her comment that homosexuality was an abomination. I'm told this matter has now been referred back to the Standards Committee for its consideration.
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