The Northern Ireland secretary has distanced himself from the immediate cuts to come, stressing to Joshua Chambers that rebalancing the economy will take 25 years.
Public spending represents over 70 per cent of GDP in Northern Ireland, yet while the coalition’s zeal for cuts is apparent elsewhere, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) secretary of state is cautious. Speaking to CSW, Owen Paterson says: “We’re quite clear that it would be irresponsible to do nothing, but it would be equally irresponsible to act precipitately because that could destabilise Northern Ireland.”Paterson believes that restructuring the economy to reduce the contribution of the public sector will take time, saying: “This could take 25 years. I think that’s being realistic: people say that’s too long a time but [the public sector economic contribution] isn’t just those who are directly employed; the private sector also depends on state contracts.”
Of course, the task of restructuring the Northern Irish economy is no longer one for the UK government. As Paterson notes: “The detail is for the devolved ministers to negotiate with the Treasury.” He is confident that a settlement will be reached, particularly given the political situation. The Northern Ireland administration is currently relatively stable – despite a difficult marching season – and Paterson notes that while “previous governments have been facing either a severe political or security crisis and battling to get the institutions established, we can now look at longer-term problems, most obviously the economy.”
In February this year, the Northern Ireland Assembly took control of policing and justice. This took more power over the six counties away from the hands of the UK government – and, more specifically, away from the Northern Ireland Office.
Paterson sees the future role of the NIO as maintaining good relations between both administrations. London will no longer have a hand on the tiller, but will survey the horizon for hazards. It will not, of course, all be smooth sailing: the peace process has made rapid progress over the last decade, but there are still problems with dissident groups and the peace is occasionally punctuated by acts of violence.
There is, then, still a need for the NIO. “Yesterday we had another dissident incident in Londonderry: a bomb went off, some damage was done,” Paterson says. “I think it is important to have someone in the cabinet representing Northern Ireland; someone who has the ear of the prime minister.”
The governance of Northern Ireland is largely in the hands of its own politicians, but the Northern Ireland secretary is clear about his job description: “My role is to represent Northern Ireland in the UK, in the cabinet and Westminster – and the other way around,” he says.
The ministerial team
Paterson has been in opposition throughout his time as an MP – 13 years – and has spent the last three years as shadow Northern Ireland secretary. He says he’s made a point of visiting the area every week, in order to build up the relationships that are so crucial in the role.
He also says he travelled “outside the bubble”, regularly visiting Dublin and seeking to gather views beyond those of the “men in suits” – for example, meeting religious figures.
More strikingly, he took a political stance in Northern Ireland; something which Labour ministers tried to avoid doing. In an electoral pact with the Ulster Unionist Party, he tried to build a presence for the Tory party in the area – a move that risked alienating nationalists and rival unionists alike.
He failed: the UUP’s lone constituency of North Down fell to sitting UUP MP Lady (Sylvia) Hermon after she objected to the Tory pact and ran as an independent. Yet Paterson defends his attempt: “We had a successful European campaign, we have an MEP [in Northern Ireland] – Jim Nicholson – and it showed very well that we could work well together; in the general election, we got over 100,000 votes.” However, the UUP lost thousands of votes after teaming up with the Conservatives, trailing far behind the DUP, Sinn Fein and the SDLP.
Paterson is sensitive to the charge that the alliance soured relations with other political leaders in Ulster. “I really do dispute that: the first evening I was appointed I spoke to all the party leaders, who all know me perfectly well. I established a good rapport with them, and in the first days I had meetings with them all.”
His minister of state, Hugo Swire, was not involved in the pre-election efforts. Swire served on the Northern Irish affairs select committee from 2002-05; like Paterson, he is on the right of the Conservative Party.