Dodds Does God
Alistair Campbell once famously interrupted Prime Minister Tony Blair during a media interview to insist that "We don't do God".
But according to Politics Home the same does not apply to the (DUP) Democratic Unionist Party whose deputy leader, Nigel Dodds, claimed recently that the hung parliament outcome of the 2017 general election was the result of an intervention from a 'higher power'.
https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/constitution/northern-ireland-assembly/news/90948/nigel-dodds-god-helped-dup-become?
Nigel Dodds: God helped the DUP become kingmakers at Westminster
By Emilio Casalicchio - Politics Home
God helped the DUP become kingmakers at Westminster, the party's most senior MP suggested today.
Nigel Dodds said it was not "an accident" that the DUP ended up holding the balance of power after the election. Credit: PA Images
Deputy leader Nigel Dodds told the party faithful it had not been "an accident how things turned out".
Mr Dodds was crowned negotiator of the year by The Spectator magazine earlier this month after he secured a £1.5bn deal for Northern Ireland to prop up Theresa May's government after the election delivered a hung parliament.
Addressing the annual DUP conference near Belfast today, Mr Dodds said the party had “never had more influence” in Westminster.
He said: “If I’m honest I did not believe that in 2017 we were heading for a hung parliament where the DUP would hold the balance of power.
“But looking back I don’t think it was an accident how things turned out.
“On reflection it’s hard to imagine how the results could have done more to maximise our influence.
“A few more seats for the Conservatives and they could have ploughed on alone. Had they won a fewer number of seats, even with our help they could not have secured a majority.”
And he said: “We entered the negotiations with the guiding star of doing what was right not for the DUP, but for Northern Ireland in particular and the United Kingdom as a whole.”
A DUP source told PoliticsHome the reference to it being no “accident” was an “allusion to guidance from a higher power so to speak”.
Elsewhere, Mr Dodds told the party faithful DUP influence at Westminster would not “wither on the vine after this term” – and would be maximised during the current parliament.
“We will lay the groundwork for the future delivery for Northern Ireland which takes us right through to the next general election," he said.
“Our deal with the Conservatives is for the entire Parliament and we have started the process of determining what will bring success, security and prosperity to the UK and Northern Ireland in the second half of the Parliament.”
Deputy leader Nigel Dodds told the party faithful it had not been "an accident how things turned out".
Mr Dodds was crowned negotiator of the year by The Spectator magazine earlier this month after he secured a £1.5bn deal for Northern Ireland to prop up Theresa May's government after the election delivered a hung parliament.
Addressing the annual DUP conference near Belfast today, Mr Dodds said the party had “never had more influence” in Westminster.
He said: “If I’m honest I did not believe that in 2017 we were heading for a hung parliament where the DUP would hold the balance of power.
“But looking back I don’t think it was an accident how things turned out.
“On reflection it’s hard to imagine how the results could have done more to maximise our influence.
“A few more seats for the Conservatives and they could have ploughed on alone. Had they won a fewer number of seats, even with our help they could not have secured a majority.”
And he said: “We entered the negotiations with the guiding star of doing what was right not for the DUP, but for Northern Ireland in particular and the United Kingdom as a whole.”
A DUP source told PoliticsHome the reference to it being no “accident” was an “allusion to guidance from a higher power so to speak”.
Elsewhere, Mr Dodds told the party faithful DUP influence at Westminster would not “wither on the vine after this term” – and would be maximised during the current parliament.
“We will lay the groundwork for the future delivery for Northern Ireland which takes us right through to the next general election," he said.
“Our deal with the Conservatives is for the entire Parliament and we have started the process of determining what will bring success, security and prosperity to the UK and Northern Ireland in the second half of the Parliament.”
Ridiculous Mr Poots (08/04/14)
Now is this the result of sound medical evidence or the result of ignorance and prejudice?
I am pretty sure it is the latter and it speaks volumes about what the DUP stands for, as well as the quality of its leading politicians.
Lisburn, but the way, is right next door to Newtonabbey in County Antrim where toon councillors banned a play about the Bible because it was 'blasphemous' allegedly, but I can't help wondering if these civic leaders are related to the ridiculous Mr Poots, politically speaking, of course.
Gay blood: Andy Burnham calls on Jeremy Hunt to explain NI position
By Peter Coulter
By Peter Coulter
BBC News
Andy Burnham said Jeremy Hunt's decision to appeal was surprising
Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham has called on Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to explain his position on gay men donating blood in Northern Ireland.
Mr Hunt has begun a legal appeal after a judge ruled it was up to him if gay men could donate blood in NI. The ban was lifted in Britain in 2011.
The judge said that Northern Ireland's Health Minister Edwin Poots' ban on gay men donating blood was "irrational".
Mr Poots has also begun a legal challenge to the ruling.
'Matter of equality'
A complete ban on gay men donating blood was put in place across the UK during the 1980s, but this was lifted in England, Scotland and Wales in November 2011.
It was replaced by new rules that allow blood from men whose last sexual contact with another man was more than a year ago.
However, the lifetime ban is still in place in Northern Ireland, where Mr Poots said it was needed to ensure public safety.
Last October, a judge at the High Court in Belfast said this was "irrational", and Mr Poots did not have the power to retain the ban as it was a matter for the Westminster health secretary.
Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham has called on Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to explain his position on gay men donating blood in Northern Ireland.
Mr Hunt has begun a legal appeal after a judge ruled it was up to him if gay men could donate blood in NI. The ban was lifted in Britain in 2011.
The judge said that Northern Ireland's Health Minister Edwin Poots' ban on gay men donating blood was "irrational".
Mr Poots has also begun a legal challenge to the ruling.
'Matter of equality'
A complete ban on gay men donating blood was put in place across the UK during the 1980s, but this was lifted in England, Scotland and Wales in November 2011.
It was replaced by new rules that allow blood from men whose last sexual contact with another man was more than a year ago.
However, the lifetime ban is still in place in Northern Ireland, where Mr Poots said it was needed to ensure public safety.
Last October, a judge at the High Court in Belfast said this was "irrational", and Mr Poots did not have the power to retain the ban as it was a matter for the Westminster health secretary.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is appealing against the judgement
Mr Burnham told the BBC it was "surprising that Jeremy Hunt had decided to appeal this court ruling and he now needs to provide a full explanation".
"Northern Ireland receives blood from across the rest of the UK where gay men have been donors since 2011," said the Labour MP.
"This is also a matter of equality, and gay men in Northern Ireland should have the same rights to help others by donating their blood as gay men in England, Scotland and Wales."
Sinn Fein's Caitriona Ruane said she felt disappointed by the approach of Mr Poots and Mr Hunt.
Mr Burnham told the BBC it was "surprising that Jeremy Hunt had decided to appeal this court ruling and he now needs to provide a full explanation".
"Northern Ireland receives blood from across the rest of the UK where gay men have been donors since 2011," said the Labour MP.
"This is also a matter of equality, and gay men in Northern Ireland should have the same rights to help others by donating their blood as gay men in England, Scotland and Wales."
Sinn Fein's Caitriona Ruane said she felt disappointed by the approach of Mr Poots and Mr Hunt.
A high court judge ruled Edwin Poots' decision to ban gay men from donating blood was 'irrational'
"I'm appalled that Edwin Poots is squandering public money to defend discrimination. Look at the state of the health service, look at his lack of management, people waiting on trolleys and dying in hospitals and what he is doing is squandering public money, defending the indefensible.
"The DUP needs to look at these court cases and accept court rulings on the basis of equality, rather than their own religious or personal opinions."
The gay rights organisation Stonewall also criticised the appeals.
James Taylor, head of policy at Stonewall, said: "At a time when we need blood donations right across the UK, it's unfair that gay and bisexual men in Northern Ireland are being unfairly discriminated against with a lifetime ban on donations.
"This is a policy not rooted in modern scientific evidence."
Northern Ireland gay rights charity, the Rainbow Project, said it was "disappointed" by the latest developments.
"I'm appalled that Edwin Poots is squandering public money to defend discrimination. Look at the state of the health service, look at his lack of management, people waiting on trolleys and dying in hospitals and what he is doing is squandering public money, defending the indefensible.
"The DUP needs to look at these court cases and accept court rulings on the basis of equality, rather than their own religious or personal opinions."
The gay rights organisation Stonewall also criticised the appeals.
James Taylor, head of policy at Stonewall, said: "At a time when we need blood donations right across the UK, it's unfair that gay and bisexual men in Northern Ireland are being unfairly discriminated against with a lifetime ban on donations.
"This is a policy not rooted in modern scientific evidence."
Northern Ireland gay rights charity, the Rainbow Project, said it was "disappointed" by the latest developments.
Sinn Féin's Caitriona Ruane said she was disappointed by the approach of Mr Poots and Mr Hunt
In a statement, a spokesperson for Mr Poots' department said the judge's decision "potentially has wide-reaching consequences beyond the immediate subject matter of the case, and the Department of Health and Social Services has strong legal advice recommending an appeal, and accordingly it is appropriate that those arguments should be presented to the Court of Appeal.
"It would not be appropriate for the department to comment further when an appeal to the court is pending."
In a statement, a UK Department of Health spokesperson said: "We have considered the potential implications of the judgement, both for blood donation and for devolution.
"Following legal advice, we have submitted an appeal against the ruling."
The case is due before the court next month.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Mr Poots' department said the judge's decision "potentially has wide-reaching consequences beyond the immediate subject matter of the case, and the Department of Health and Social Services has strong legal advice recommending an appeal, and accordingly it is appropriate that those arguments should be presented to the Court of Appeal.
"It would not be appropriate for the department to comment further when an appeal to the court is pending."
In a statement, a UK Department of Health spokesperson said: "We have considered the potential implications of the judgement, both for blood donation and for devolution.
"Following legal advice, we have submitted an appeal against the ruling."
The case is due before the court next month.
Blasphemy U-Turn (6 February 2014)
Now here's a good news story - the crazy councillors from County Antrim in Northern Ireland who banned a play about the Bible because it was blasphemous - have seen the light, backed down and reversed their decision.
Better still the Reduced Shakespeare Company now expects its play - The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged) - to be a complete sell-out.
Wonders will never cease.
Banned comic play about Bible expected to sell out
The play is now expected to sell out
The comic play about the Bible that was cancelled, then reinstated, by a County Antrim council, is expected to sell out.
The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged) had sold only 150 of a possible 800 seats before the controversy erupted last week.
Only six tickets were left unsold at 21:30 GMT on Tuesday.
The play's two-night run at Newtownabbey Borough Council's Theatre at the Mill begins on Wednesday.
The council box office extended its opening hours on Tuesday, and its website also crashed because of a surge in demand.
The play was originally cancelled by the council's artistic board after complaints from some councillors that it was blasphemous.
However, after widespread condemnation of the move, the artistic board changed its mind on Monday night, and the council ratified the decision to let the play go ahead.
The Reduced Shakespeare Company was already rehearsing the play at the Theatre at the Mill before the council performed its U-turn.
Comedian Jake O'Kane criticises 'zealots' who cancelled play
Councillors decided the play made a mockery of the word of God
One of NI's leading comedians has criticised the council "zealots" who have banned a play in County Antrim.
Newtownabbey Borough Council cancelled the Reduced Shakespeare Company's The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged) after complaints that it was blasphemous.
Jake O'Kane said unionist councillors who took the decision "weren't elected to be moral guardians".
Councillor Fraser Agnew said there was a "need to defend Christian values".
“They call themselves moral guardians - they weren't elected to be moral guardians. We elected them to empty our bins, make sure the leisure centres were open - that's the powers they have,” said Jake O'Kane a well-known comedian.
The play was to have been staged at Newtownabbey's council-run Theatre at the Mill on 29 and 30 January.
But it was cancelled on Thursday after a meeting of the council's artistic board.
Some councillors had previously called for the show to be cancelled.
Alliance councillor Tom Campbell said: "It's typical of the DUP, they're intolerant, they're a party that wants to see censorship of things that people want to see in the borough.
"I've had plenty of complaints from people who wanted to see it and indeed I was one of those who had booked to see the show."
The comic play about the Bible that was cancelled, then reinstated, by a County Antrim council, is expected to sell out.
The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged) had sold only 150 of a possible 800 seats before the controversy erupted last week.
Only six tickets were left unsold at 21:30 GMT on Tuesday.
The play's two-night run at Newtownabbey Borough Council's Theatre at the Mill begins on Wednesday.
The council box office extended its opening hours on Tuesday, and its website also crashed because of a surge in demand.
The play was originally cancelled by the council's artistic board after complaints from some councillors that it was blasphemous.
However, after widespread condemnation of the move, the artistic board changed its mind on Monday night, and the council ratified the decision to let the play go ahead.
The Reduced Shakespeare Company was already rehearsing the play at the Theatre at the Mill before the council performed its U-turn.
Ban Monty Python? (25 January 2014)
Politicians in Northern Ireland have put Newtonabbey council on the map with a crazy decision to ban a play by the Reduced Shakespeare Company because they regard the production as blasphemous.
Now this remands me of an episode of Father Ted when the eponymous priest and his sidekick, Dougall, are ordered by the fearsome Bishop Brennan (whom Ted has to 'kick up the arse' in a letter episode) which the pair duly do, of course, but with little success or enthusiasm.
But there's a serious point to this madness as well because the behaviour of the moral guardians in Newtonabbey puts them on a par with religious extremists in Pakistan who are fond of using that country's blasphemy laws to persecute non-Muslims - and it also takes us back to the bad old days in the 1970s when other 'moral guardians' in the UK tried to ban 'Life of Brian'.
So the question for these crazy councillors is: "Are you going to ban Monty Python next?
Comedian Jake O'Kane criticises 'zealots' who cancelled play
Councillors decided the play made a mockery of the word of God
One of NI's leading comedians has criticised the council "zealots" who have banned a play in County Antrim.
Newtownabbey Borough Council cancelled the Reduced Shakespeare Company's The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged) after complaints that it was blasphemous.
Jake O'Kane said unionist councillors who took the decision "weren't elected to be moral guardians".
Councillor Fraser Agnew said there was a "need to defend Christian values".
“They call themselves moral guardians - they weren't elected to be moral guardians. We elected them to empty our bins, make sure the leisure centres were open - that's the powers they have,” said Jake O'Kane a well-known comedian.
The play was to have been staged at Newtownabbey's council-run Theatre at the Mill on 29 and 30 January.
But it was cancelled on Thursday after a meeting of the council's artistic board.
Some councillors had previously called for the show to be cancelled.
'Dead in water'
Mr O'Kane said: "I haven't seen the play, and unfortunately I'll never be able to see the play because councillors have decided that we will not be allowed to see the play.
"It's like getting in a time machine and they went back to before the Reformation and the Enlightenment.
"There was £7m spent on this theatre, it opened in 2010, and they may as well close the doors. If they are going to be the moral guardians of what we see and don't see, that theatre is dead in the water.
"We already have laws, we have hate speech laws, that dictate what the arts can and cannot do. If it is hateful, if it is against minorities, the laws are already there to censor that.
"We don't need a bunch of unionist councillors in Newtownabbey deciding what we can or cannot go to see.
"They call themselves moral guardians - they weren't elected to be moral guardians. We elected them to empty our bins, make sure the leisure centres were open - that's the powers they have.
Comedian Jake O'Kane said if people were offended by the play, they should not go to see it
Mr O'Kane said: "I haven't seen the play, and unfortunately I'll never be able to see the play because councillors have decided that we will not be allowed to see the play.
"It's like getting in a time machine and they went back to before the Reformation and the Enlightenment.
"There was £7m spent on this theatre, it opened in 2010, and they may as well close the doors. If they are going to be the moral guardians of what we see and don't see, that theatre is dead in the water.
"We already have laws, we have hate speech laws, that dictate what the arts can and cannot do. If it is hateful, if it is against minorities, the laws are already there to censor that.
"We don't need a bunch of unionist councillors in Newtownabbey deciding what we can or cannot go to see.
"They call themselves moral guardians - they weren't elected to be moral guardians. We elected them to empty our bins, make sure the leisure centres were open - that's the powers they have.
Comedian Jake O'Kane said if people were offended by the play, they should not go to see it
'Humiliated'
"They didn't put on their manifesto that they were going to decide what we can or cannot see."
Mr O'Kane told BBC Northern Ireland's Good Morning Ulster that "the vast majority of people in Newtownabbey, I guarantee, are humiliated by this decision".
Mr Agnew, an Ulster Unionist Party representative on the council, said: "Unionists were objecting based on the number of calls they were receiving and some people who had seen the trailer.
"I had a call from a chap who had seen the play, who had trained for the Roman Catholic priesthood, and he advised me that it was blasphemous.
"If it was a play to do with anti-gay material can you imagine the outcry there would be over that, if it was anti-Semitic, if it was anti-Koran... all of those things would create an uproar.
"People weren't going to go, but I think there is this need to defend Christian values."
"They didn't put on their manifesto that they were going to decide what we can or cannot see."
Mr O'Kane told BBC Northern Ireland's Good Morning Ulster that "the vast majority of people in Newtownabbey, I guarantee, are humiliated by this decision".
Mr Agnew, an Ulster Unionist Party representative on the council, said: "Unionists were objecting based on the number of calls they were receiving and some people who had seen the trailer.
"I had a call from a chap who had seen the play, who had trained for the Roman Catholic priesthood, and he advised me that it was blasphemous.
"If it was a play to do with anti-gay material can you imagine the outcry there would be over that, if it was anti-Semitic, if it was anti-Koran... all of those things would create an uproar.
"People weren't going to go, but I think there is this need to defend Christian values."
Alliance councillor Tom Campbell said: "It's typical of the DUP, they're intolerant, they're a party that wants to see censorship of things that people want to see in the borough.
"I've had plenty of complaints from people who wanted to see it and indeed I was one of those who had booked to see the show."
'Unjustified'
Human rights group Amnesty International said that the decision to cancel the play was "utterly unjustified".
Patrick Corrigan of Amnesty International said: "It is well established in international human rights law that the right to freedom of expression, though not absolute, is a fundamental right which may only be restricted in certain limited circumstances to do with the advocacy of hatred.
"It is quite obvious that those circumstances are not met in the context of this work of comedy and thus that the cancelling of the play is utterly unjustified on human rights grounds.
"Such interference with freedom of speech and artistic expression should be of concern to freedom lovers everywhere."
Mayor of Newtownabbey Frazer Agnew said the decision was made after taking on board what people and councillors were saying
However, speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme on Friday, the Rev Brian McClung, welcomed the news that it would not be shown and said the play was "derogatory".
"There's a line that has to be drawn somewhere in what is offensive, and we certainly believe that what that company was putting on was highly offensive," he said.
"This is derogatory and offensive to Christians. Whether people laugh at you or not, you're standing up for the Bible and I make no apology for that."
Anne McReynolds, chief executive of Belfast's MAC theatre said: "It's a ridiculous situation, there's no question about that.
"You can see by the reaction of the vast majority of the population in Northern Ireland who engaged with the issue that there is no support for this kind of censorship."
Human rights group Amnesty International said that the decision to cancel the play was "utterly unjustified".
Patrick Corrigan of Amnesty International said: "It is well established in international human rights law that the right to freedom of expression, though not absolute, is a fundamental right which may only be restricted in certain limited circumstances to do with the advocacy of hatred.
"It is quite obvious that those circumstances are not met in the context of this work of comedy and thus that the cancelling of the play is utterly unjustified on human rights grounds.
"Such interference with freedom of speech and artistic expression should be of concern to freedom lovers everywhere."
Mayor of Newtownabbey Frazer Agnew said the decision was made after taking on board what people and councillors were saying
However, speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme on Friday, the Rev Brian McClung, welcomed the news that it would not be shown and said the play was "derogatory".
"There's a line that has to be drawn somewhere in what is offensive, and we certainly believe that what that company was putting on was highly offensive," he said.
"This is derogatory and offensive to Christians. Whether people laugh at you or not, you're standing up for the Bible and I make no apology for that."
Anne McReynolds, chief executive of Belfast's MAC theatre said: "It's a ridiculous situation, there's no question about that.
"You can see by the reaction of the vast majority of the population in Northern Ireland who engaged with the issue that there is no support for this kind of censorship."
