Executive in disarray says Alliance

5.02.00pm GMT Tue 20th Nov 2007

Alliance Party Finance Spokesperson Stephen Farry MLA

The Alliance Party has claimed that the executive is in disarray after the UUP and SDLP backed an Alliance amendment criticising the Legislative Programme for being too weak and ignoring many important challenges.

Party Finance spokesperson, Stephen Farry stated:

"After today's debate on the Legislative Programme, the Executive now lies in disarray. The Legislative Programme is supposed to be one of the cornerstones

"The level of support for the Alliance Party amendment indicates there is a broad base of MLAs that regard the Legislative Programme as flawed. Clearly, there is great dissatisfaction that many of the important challenges facing Northern Ireland that require legislation, from a Single Equality Bill to the creation of an Environmental Protection Agency have been neglected.

"The DUP and Sinn Fein are not able to get away with simply copying Westminster legislation, or pursuing the handovers from Direct Rule. Devolution was supposed to be so much more than that.

"The failure of the UUP and SDLP to back the other Executive parties in endorsing this farce more clearly than before illustrates the deep splits within the Executive and the total absence of collective responsibility."

ENDS