Naomi Long interview: Alliance in Westminster

Parliament still matters to Northern Ireland and shows that voluntary coalition can work, according to Naomi Long. The Alliance MP talks to Peter Cheney about the session so far, the Lib Dems, Labour and her chances of re-election.

Taking East Belfast from the DUP has in itself raised Alliance’s profile in Parliament, Naomi Long claims as she looks back on her first seven months as its MP.

“Obviously because [of] the notoriety of the win and the gain, there’s been quite a lot of interest in what Alliance is about and what we stand for and what our perspective on things has been,” she comments.

Long wasn’t sure if she would enjoy Westminster or not, but has done so far. It has been both a “real revelation” to see how it works first hand and a busy time for her party.

“I suppose in some ways it’s very easy for me to fit in because I’m a one-man band so I can pretty much define myself,” she remarks. Long finds she is able to “articulate a slightly different perspective” on Northern Ireland issues i.e. the positive side of the province and a shared future.

This makes MPs “aware that there are people in Northern Ireland actually who have that sense of community that’s much wider than perhaps what they’re used to hearing” in Commons debates.

Remit

At the time of writing, 10 local MPs were full-time and eight were also MLAs. “We’re moving towards it incredibly slowly,” she comments on the end of double-jobbing.

Turning to her promise to stand down from her Assembly and council posts, Long firstly says she needs to be focused for her constituents: “If I’m in London doing my job thoroughly there and paying attention to what’s going on there, then I need to be not looking over my shoulder to say: ‘What am I missing at the Assembly?’ And vice versa.”

Secondly, this gives “new faces who are capable and talented” the chance to come through in politics.

“The role of an MP is the same. It’s the degree to which Northern Ireland MPs have, I suppose, been in a position to do all of the things that time demands of them,” Long continues.

For her, the previous week involved meetings of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, the Northern Ireland Grand Committee (involving all sitting MPs from the province), a Westminster Hall debate on killings by soldiers in Ballymurphy, the tuition fees debate and vote and Prime Minister’s questions.

“So right throughout the week, there have been things that would directly engage a Northern Ireland MP and I think it’s important that you’re able to dedicate the time to actually be involved in those issues.”

Setting constituency work aside, most areas of policy are now devolved to Stormont. However, she thinks there is still enough work to keep a full-time MP busy.

“The reality of devolution is that a lot of what you can and can’t do is dictated by your budget and the budget is not devolved,” she explains, before listing security, the legacy of the Troubles, borders and immigration, international relations and climate change as other examples.

On the previous Monday evening, she had spoken in a debate on the collapsed foreign exchange company Crown Currency Exchange which had affected some of her constituents.

“Now that’s something that as an Assembly member, I would have been writing letters about but I wouldn’t have been able to be at the debate to hear the Minister and then to follow that up with some questions afterwards,” she remarks.

As for devolving corporation tax, “again, that’s something that Northern Ireland may wish for but only Westminster can grant.”

Coalition speed

She is speaking to agendaNi in her constituency office a day after the tuition fees vote split her sister party. Long was among the noes, along with all other voting Northern Ireland MPs.

Alliance and the Lib Dems are both members of the Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party. However, she says the Lib Dems have not expected her to support, speak in favour or otherwise defend their stance.

“I think they’ve had a difficult time in the last few months. I think particularly yesterday was an incredibly difficult day for them and I think unfortunately it will be a very damaging day for them, regardless of what happens after this.”

Long is, though, more interested in the Government’s performance as a whole. It has been “quite refreshing to see the speed with which decisions can be taken” where a coalition has an agreed Programme for Government and the will to implement it.

In her view, this shows that voluntary coalition, which Alliance prefers, “does work in practice” compared to how “the wheels grind excessively slow in the Assembly at times.” The parliamentary process is “relatively effective”.

Opposition is the other side of the Westminster dynamic. Long sits beside Labour MPs who try to “pick off the weak link” i.e. the Liberal Democrats.

“Clearly there are some people who are enjoying the opportunity to be opportunistic about opposition and there are others who are very conscious that if you ever want to be government, you’ve got to behave like government-in-waiting and not opposition.”

Long’s majority over Peter Robinson stood at 1,533 votes and the DUP is determined to retake its former stronghold.

How confident of holding East Belfast at the next general election?

“I think people chose to vote Alliance as a positive choice rather than as a protest,” Long said. The UUP, in her view, would have been the obvious protest vote. She wants to demonstrate that that was “the right choice” and is confident, but not complacent of winning again.

In conclusion, it is a “fascinating place” for anyone who enjoys politics, particularly when observing Parliament’s first coalition since 1945.

Too many cooks?

Five lords – Alderdice, Browne, Empey and two Paisleys – also call East Belfast home. Perhaps the seat is over-represented in Parliament, it was put to her. “There’ll be, I suspect, a lot of people who would make that argument,” she quips, “but obviously when you’re in the Lords, you’re not really representing a constituency as such.”

The peers represent party and other interests “and there’s probably been some imbalances redressed of late with people being elevated to the Lords”, she adds, hinting at Reg Empey’s elevation. “Given the passion for change in Westminster, there may well be moves to reform the House of Lords so it’ll be interesting to see who survives that particular reform.”