Alliance Works

tribal politics costs

MANIFESTO

Westminster and
Local Government
Elections

5 May 2005

Alliance is Northern Ireland's cross-community and anti-sectarian party, working on behalf of all sections of the community.

Alliance is working for a shared future, where people can live and learn, work and play, together in safety.

Alliance is committed to preserving the fundamental principles of the Good Friday Agreement, while making the necessary reforms to allow it to work more fairly and effectively.

Alliance is a strong supporter of the rule of law. We are resolute in opposing all forms of paramilitarism and criminality from wherever they come.

Alliance is helping to build a fair, peaceful and prosperous society that cherishes diversity, and is committed to human rights, equality of citizenship and social justice.

12 Key Commitments

Alliance Working for You
making the difference

Introduction by the Party Leader

Alliance Working for You
making the difference

Alliance is at the centre of the political process in Northern Ireland. Despite the obstacles of Direct Rule, Alliance has been able to make many positive contributions to address the needs of the people of Northern Ireland.

Many of the ideas put forward by Alliance have been taken up by Government, reflecting the high calibre of Alliance representatives.

This election is your chance to give your verdict on the right way forward for Northern Ireland.

You probably share the frustration that so little progress has been made in recent years. Both unionist parties and both nationalist parties have been given plenty of opportunities, but they have all failed to deliver. The people of Northern Ireland have been betrayed by the men of violence and the political hardliners.

The absence of devolution means that decisions are taken exclusively by remote-control Direct Rule ministers, who are not in tune with the real needs of the people of Northern Ireland. While our economy has certainly improved over the past decade, it is still performing well below its potential.

The deep divisions persist in our society. Segregation carries huge human and financial costs. It denies people opportunities, ruins lives, and deprives society of the full benefit of their talents.

Alliance has identified a billion pounds of public expenditure in Northern Ireland that is wasted every year in dealing with the direct and indirect costs of managing a divided society. At the same time, Northern Ireland suffers the longest hospital waiting lists in the UK, has a crumbling infrastructure, and is facing punitive water charges. Just think what we could do with that £1 billion if it was spent on providing quality services to all the community.

While other parties make empty promises, without any idea how they would pay for them, Alliance has identified the hidden costs from which Northern Ireland is suffering. Alliance is committed to using that money for the benefit of all our citizens: to improve schools and hospitals, to renew our public transport and roads, to avoid punitive water charges.

It is to Northern Ireland's shame that we have the highest rate of racist attacks in the UK. Alliance welcomes the growing diversity in Northern Ireland, and recognises that our new citizens are valuable members of our community.

On 5 May, there will be two elections on the same day — for Westminster and for the 26 Local Councils.

The strongest possible showing for Alliance in the Westminster election will demonstrate the strength of the centre ground in Northern Ireland, and the demand for a change in direction: to building a shared future, not managing a divided one.

Alliance has a proud record in Local Government. Across Northern Ireland, Alliance councillors have been a powerful voice for cross-community and anti-sectarian politics. We have ensured power sharing and the rotation of civic offices, and have become well-recognised for positive and responsible attitude to taking decisions on behalf of the whole community. Nowhere is this clearer than in Belfast. Alliance Councillors have used the balance of power to ensure constructive politics and Alliance Lord Mayors have provided strong civic leadership.

Alliance offers an alternative way forward. We have a clear and coherent plan to reform the Agreement, to restore devolution, and to create an effective form of power-sharing government, without giving anyone a veto over progress. It is clear that voluntary coalition works, continued deadlock costs.

We will uphold the rule of law, and oppose all forms of paramilitary and criminal activity. We must prevent the creation of a mafia-state. It is clear that justice works, paramilitarism costs.

We will make improving community relations and working for a shared future our main priority. We do not want a Northern Ireland version of Apartheid. It is clear that sharing works, segregation costs.

We will treat every person as an individual citizen, valuing their contribution to society, and recognising their choice over identity. It is clear that respect works, bigotry costs.

Alliance provides a real alternative to the failed politics of unionism and nationalism. It's the only alterative. We have a clear vision, a clear set of values, and a clear purpose. We seek to build a united community.

Alliance Works, Tribal Politics Costs.

David Ford
Party Leader

Voluntary Coalition Works
deadlock costs

Alliance has a clear plan to reform the Agreement, to restore devolution, and to create an effective form of power-sharing government, without giving anyone a veto over progress.

The creation of a voluntary coalition would allow those parties that wish to move forward to do so. The process could no longer be held hostage, either by political intransigence or a failure by some to give up continued paramilitary activity.

An Executive should be formed through a voluntary power-sharing coalition. It is possible for parties to negotiate a balanced executive, with an agreed programme for government, based on collective responsibility. This would be required to achieve a cross-community weighted-majority vote in the Assembly in order to come into effect. No party would have an automatic right to be in the Executive.

This approach to Executive formation will provide more efficient, effective and cohesive government. It will encourage greater co-operation among parties, and better promote the concept of a single Northern Ireland polity.

Alliance did not table this proposal with the intention of excluding Sinn Féin from office. However, in the context of the continued failure of Republicans to signal an end to all paramilitary and criminal activity, it does allow the restoration of local democracy.

At present, the Prime Minister maintains that progress is not possible until, and therefore unless, Republicans fall into line.

In contrast, Alliance believes that the train must leave the station, without Sinn Féin if necessary. Once they accept the same standards of democracy and justice as everyone else, they can come on board further down the track.

Unionists must make it absolutely clear that they are prepared to share power properly with Nationalists and others. Equally, the SDLP must make clear that they can actually resolve the conflict between integrity and inclusivity in favour of the former.

However, this proposal is only one of many from the Alliance Party to reform the Agreement, and to place it on a stable basis. These are set out in full in our document Agenda for Democracy.

The Agreement

The major strength of the Agreement continues to lie in its creation of a set of political institutions with cross-community legitimacy within a deeply divided society. The opponents of the Agreement continue to fail to produce any alternative that is capable of generating similar support across the community.

While the Agreement has many strengths, there are some flaws. Furthermore, continued arguments among the parties to the Agreement, as well as the failure to rise above narrow sectarian concerns to work for the common good, has undermined the implementation of the Agreement. Most crucially, there has been a deterioration in community relations, and an increase in sectarianism, racism and segregation on the ground.

Rather than trying to create a new political culture for Northern Ireland in which all parties compete over a common agenda and seek to work in the common interest, the Agreement has entrenched a system of `winner takes all' intra-ethnic competition within two separate Unionist and Nationalist polities, which the extremes have been able to exploit.

Alliance is firmly committed to the principle of power sharing. We strongly advocate a move away from the rigid, consociational form of power sharing contained in the original Agreement towards more flexible and integrated versions of power sharing more appropriate for an evolving and diverse society. Ultimately, our objective is to fashion Northern Ireland as a model European liberal democracy.

Any political structures must address the deeply divided nature of Northern Ireland, yet they must be sufficiently flexible to allow for positive change in our political culture. While there is no guarantee that any set of political structures will be workable, there are certain institutional designs that are much more likely to be successful.

However, it is important than discussions do not focus exclusively on political structures, but address the wider problems in society that create the context for the current political impasse.

For Alliance, the Agreement is not the ceiling of our ambitions, but rather a foundation on which to build. Alliance does not view the Agreement as the end-point of a process, but as a tool to help us to reinforce peace and stability, to entrench liberal democracy, and to build a united community and a shared, non-sectarian society.

There are four particular problems with the current system:

There was a certain inevitability that a crisis would happen, considering all of the above faults.

The Agreement only specifies that there shall be up to ten Departments; it does not specify that there must be ten Departments. There is a growing consensus that 10 Government Departments, plus the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister, is excessive. The division of functions among the various Departments is not logical in every instance.

There is also concern at the current split of responsibilities between Government Departments and centralisation of functions within the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister. The role of OFMDFM could be changed and functions transferred to other relevant Departments.

Alliance looks forward to the eventual devolution of policing and criminal justice to the Northern Ireland Assembly. Such local ownership of this machinery would go a long way to enhancing popular confidence in them. However, a security dimension has been a central feature of the conflict in Northern Ireland. It is important that these powers are delivered in an appropriate context and the necessary structures for accountability are in place.

Alliance does not believe that any of the structures offered in the Joint Declaration provides an ideal way forward, especially in the absence of collective responsibility.

At present, while there is a Statutory Committee to scrutinise each of the current ten Departments, there is no equivalent committee for the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister. It is instead monitored by the Committee of the Centre, whose remit only covers some of the OFMDFM functions. OFMDFM has taken on the appearance of a full Department of Government, as more and more functions have been concentrated within it.

Substantial concerns have been expressed that Ministers have been able to exercise considerable Executive authority within their own areas of responsibility without effective challenge. This situation runs contrary to the notion of a cross-community Government with widespread ownership of decisions. The Executive did not prove effective in creating collective responsibility, where all Ministers work together to deliver a common agenda. Ministers took a number of decisions that did not appear to have widespread support amongst other Ministers, let alone the Assembly. Hence, there is a need for a more equitable sharing of power between the Executive and the Assembly.

Ceasefires have been allowed to become far too narrowly defined, and too often violence has been ignored or downplayed so as not to disturb the commitment to inclusivity. A large number of paramilitary activities, such as beating, exiling, shooting and murder were treated as being beyond the scope of a `ceasefire'. All of these activities undermine the democracy, human rights and the rule of law. It is not acceptable for parties to be in Government and also have links to `private armies'.

Alliance will be prepared to support sanctions against those in default of their obligations.

The current d'Hondt mechanism for the allocation of places in the Executive and Committee Chairs and Vice-Chairs is unfair; d'Hondt is flawed as a proportional system. The greater the number of parties involved, the more likely it is that distortions will occur. It also significantly favours the larger parties. These reforms should apply wherever the d'Hondt system is presently used.

It is important to ensure that any legislature is held accountable for its spending decisions and ambitions. If the Assembly had tax-varying powers, it would have the ability to set and realise its own fiscal priorities and to promote economic growth, taking into account the differences between Northern Ireland and other UK regions and the significance of cross-border issues such as differential rates of taxation and grants.

Nevertheless, it must be recognised that progress on a north-south basis often quietly occurs between agencies in an informal manner. One of the most significant economic problems in recent years, the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease, was dealt with on a North-South basis without any formal structures.

The package of proposals published by the British and Irish Governments in December carries many shortcomings.

The fundamental principles of the Agreement are now defined and agreed across all of the main parties, including the DUP.

However, the reforms were a clear demonstration of Realpolitik, and the associated weaknesses of that approach. It was billed as comprehensive, but is anything but. No more and no less went into the documents than what was perceived to be necessary to create the conditions for the DUP and Sinn Féin to share power.

While at the micro-level, there are some considerable improvements in the areas of accountability and collective responsibility, at the macro-level, the package contains some major weaknesses.

First, it has not really resolved the problem of all parties adhering to common understandings of crucial concepts of equality, human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

In particular, before Sinn Féin can again be considered suitable for a place in government, there is a requirement for a clear and unconditional statement from the IRA regarding an end to all paramilitary and criminal activity. This has been far from the case in the past as the IRA has addressed the conflict against, but not declared an end to paramilitary beatings and shootings, and criminality, nor accepted the unchallenged legitimacy of both the northern and southern states in relation to their monopoly on justice.

Second, the package conspicuously ignores community relations issues. Without doubt, there is a mutually reinforcing relationship between politicians who depend upon a sectarian mandate and intensified segregation across swathes of Northern Ireland. This vicious cycle must be broken. The Good Friday Agreement made commitments to integrated education and mixed housing, but these have not been followed up. The package is more consistent with the notion of managing a `benign Apartheid', than building a shared future.

Third, there was an over-optimism that a deal was not only possible between the DUP and Sinn Fein but could actually hold. The basis for this belief was that any deal including the DUP and Sinn Fein would be more secure. But while both the DUP and Sinn Fein have moderated to some extent, they remain parties on the relative extremes of the Northern Ireland political spectrum. It is extremely difficult to create and sustain a political process on such a basis. The fundamental lesson is that political progress starts through from the centre.

Sharing Works
segregation costs

The deep divisions in Northern Ireland society, and the associated community relations problems were neglected in the Agreement.

For some, the Agreement is about managing institutionalised differences and communities in Northern Ireland. This approach holds that separate but equal communities can be managed through some form of `benign Apartheid'. However, no matter how skilful, conflict management cannot be constantly maintained. With few or no common bonds or overarching loyalties to a set of shared values, once there is a major crisis, it is relatively easy for `separate communities' to go their separate ways.

Community relations issues must be made the top priority within the political process. Alliance will continue to do so.

We are committed to building a united community, and creating a shared future where people can live and learn, work and play together in safety.

Yet there is substantial evidence that a clear majority of the people in Northern Ireland would like to have mixed facilities in which to live, to work, and to be educated. Almost a quarter of Protestants and a third of Catholics do not wish to be described as either Unionist or Nationalist. Furthermore, the 2001 Census showed that 14% of the population do not wish to be described as either Protestant or Catholic.

However, people's choices are not being respected through the lack of provision of facilities and fears over security, while identities. Northern Ireland is a socially-engineered divided society.

Alliance welcomes the publication, A Shared Future — Policy and Strategic Framework for Good Relations in Northern Ireland, by the Government in March 2005. Unlike other parties, we play a central role in developing this approach.

The notion that Northern Ireland can be managed through some kind of `benign Apartheid' has been dismissed in favour of a Shared Future.

Alliance welcomes the new inter-agency strategy for dealing with paramilitary and other illegally-erected flags.

We also welcome the commitment to better quantify the human and financial costs of segregation. However, this must not be simply a paper exercise, but the basis for making fundamental changes in how services are delivered, and public policy more generally is structured.

It is important that this new thinking now permeates all aspects of Government and the public sector, and furthermore that detailed policy programmes are developed to put this new framework into practice.

However, building good relations in this society cannot just be a matter for government, it is a responsibility for civil society and indeed every person in society.

Alliance priorities are to—

Equality

Alliance will promote equality of opportunity, equality of treatment, equality of access, and equality under the law for all people, irrespective of:

We are opposed to all forms of unlawful and unfair discrimination. To this end, Alliance makes the following pledges—

Justice Works
gangsterism costs

Alliance is fully committed to the highest standards of justice and the rule of law. We believe that there is a fundamental relationship between democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. The Agreement has not been the source of the law and order problems in Northern Ireland. These problems have persisted and developed despite the Agreement. Alliance believes that the platform of the Agreement provides the best means for asserting the primacy of the rule of law, democracy, and a Bill of Rights.

Our vision of policing in Northern Ireland is of a single, integrated, professional police service that is representative of, responsive to, and carrying the confidence of the entire community. Alliance gives its full support to the Police Service of Northern Ireland in upholding the rule of law. A key element of this new beginning must be an increasingly community-based approach, which will re-enforce the needs of the community.

Action is required at a number of levels:

Alliance priorities are to—

Structures and Resources

Enforcement and Revision of the Criminal Law

A Culture of Lawfulness

Human Rights

As a longstanding supporter of human rights, Alliance believes that Northern Ireland should have the best set of human rights protections possible. These could, in turn, be a model for other parts of these islands and Europe. Alliance welcomes the passage of the Human Rights Act, and supports efforts of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) to draft a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.

Victims

Alliance will work to help our society move beyond a `hierarchy of victims', in order to ensure that those who have suffered throughout the community are supported in an inclusive way. We recognise the tensions in acknowledging all victims in our society, thus commit ourselves to strategies that strive to unite our community.

Fair Taxation Works
punitive charges cost

Under direct rule, water charges and regional rate hikes will be a reality. This is the punishment for other parties not reaching agreement on devolution. Indeed, what they have delivered is political stagnation.

Alliance will deliver political progress, and through the abolition of deliberately segregated social, educational and transport facilities, a financial package that would remove the need for water charges and regional rate hikes.

Costs of Segregation

Segregation carries huge human and financial costs. At the human level, it denies people opportunities, ruins lives, and deprives society of the full benefit of their talents.

Alliance has identified that approximately £1 billion of public expenditure in Northern Ireland is wasted in dealing with the direct and indirect costs of managing a divided society. At the same time, Northern Ireland suffers the longest hospital waiting lists in the UK, has a crumbling infrastructure, and is facing punitive water charges.

The costs of a divided society are apparent in three respects.

First, there are the direct costs of policing riots, other civil disturbances and parades, the distortions to policing that arise from the security threat, and the costs to a wide range of agencies in repairing damaged buildings and facilities.

Second, there are the indirect costs of providing duplicate goods, facilities and services for separate sections of the community, either implicitly or explicitly. This includes: schools, GP surgeries, job centres, community centre, leisure centres, and even bus stops. These costs are borne not just by the public sector, but by the private sector too.

Third, there are the opportunity costs of lost inward investment and tourism. While the Northern Ireland economy has performed better in recent years, it is still performing well below its potential capacity.

Water Charges

Water reform has been mishandled and misrepresented by both the Northern Ireland Executive and direct rule ministers. The proposed `tap tax' is unfair and will lead to some of the most vulnerable being unable to afford a basic human necessity.

The Government has made a false comparison between what households in Northern Ireland and Great Britain pay.

The SDLP, UUP, Sinn Fein and the DUP were all part of the Northern Ireland Executive that severed the link between our regional rate and water payments.

Future consumers should not be required to pay for making good the water and sewerage infrastructure.

Regional Rate

For 2005/06, the Northern Ireland Executive had approved a regional rate increase of 6%. Yet the direct rule minister responsible for Finance unilaterally raised this further to 9%. The regional rate will also increase by 9% per annum for two years after that. This is well over three times the current rate of inflation.

Regional Income Tax

Direct rule ministers like to repeatedly accuse us in Northern Ireland that we don't pay our fair share of rates and taxes. They repeatedly ignore the facts that:

Alliance would use a fair method to pay our fair share of taxes, one that is based on our ability to pay.

Tax-Varying Powers