Downing Street bound?
The Executive's meeting on the cuts today concluded with a decision to seek a meeting with David Cameron. Despite Owen Paterson's angry protestations that the government has not broken its word over the £18 billion capital spending pledge, Stormont ministers weren't convinced. Martin McGuinness described Mr Paterson's defence of the Spending Review as shameful and claimed that far from being a champion for Northern Ireland at the cabinet table, Mr Paterson was acting as a champion for the Treasury.
Mr Paterson pointed out this morning that Gordon Brown's original pledge contained cash from several pots - not just grants from the treasury, but money loaned under to so called Reform and Reinvestment Initiative and cash from third parties. He also said that whilts it's up to the Executive whether to sell assets like Belfast harbour he personally would favour such a course of action.
The Deputy First Minister retorted that it's easy to urge the Executive to sell off the family silver, but this might not be a sensible course given the depressed state of the market.
As an example of supposed Treasury perfidy Stormont sources claim that capital spent on policing and justice since 2005 has been counted in to the £18 billion, even though this area wasn't devolved until this year.
For their part the Conservatives are annoyed about what they see as their generosity over the Presbyterian Mutual Society being thrown back in their faces.
So the London Stormont relationship isn't too harmonious. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for Downing Street to agree to a meeting. In the run up to the Spending Review the Stormont politicians were told to work with either the Secretary of State or the Chancellor. Some Conservatives believe Tony Blair devalued his own currency and that of his successive Secretaries of State by being available on tap to the Northern Ireland party leaders.
P.S. I am away next week but Stephen Walker will be at the helm for Inside Politics on Sunday, whilst I am hoping Martina Purdy might do a bit of blog sitting once she has recovered from her transatlantic travels (the high point of which wasn't Hillary Clinton but a brief encounter with Sarah Jessica Parker at a Washington hotel. Ms Purdy and one of the Sex and The City girls? How would a by stander tell the difference?)
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