Opinion

Tom Kelly: If we're really unlucky, Karen Bradley might be kept on in Northern Ireland

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly is an Irish News columnist with a background in politics and public relations. He is also a former member of the Policing Board.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Karen Bradley was criticised this week for failing to take questions when she faced the media. Picture David Young/PA Wire
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Karen Bradley was criticised this week for failing to take questions when she faced the media. Picture David Young/PA Wire Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Karen Bradley was criticised this week for failing to take questions when she faced the media. Picture David Young/PA Wire

So what is the point of Karen Bradley? That is the question on the lips of many commentators, journalists and the general public in the north.

The secretary of state appears to be the worst of a long line of underachieving Tory appointments in Northern Ireland.

Of course, few post holders here have ever been popular or likeable. Most were F grade ministers. Theresa May plumbed new depths when she formed a cabinet. Ability, suitability and intelligence were not attributes she regarded as essential skills for a Cabinet post. No, May preferred loyalty and look where that got her.

Once the north was the exile for those who fell out of favour with their prime minister and Northern Ireland was used as a kind of quarantine or rehabilitation station. A bit like the way the Chinese government use labour camps to refocus dissidents.

Labour, in fairness, gave us some big front bench hitters like John Reid, Peter Mandelson, Mo Mowlam and Paul Murphy. Serious political players and household names across the UK. It was always going to go pear-shaped for us when the Conservative government took over. They gave us badger-obsessed Owen Paterson. Then the equally uninspiring Theresa Villiers followed by the instantly forgettable James Brokenshire.

And then came Karen Bradley. A minister who rarely speaks to the press and when she does it is to tell them what she cannot do. If Karen Bradley ever writes a political memoir it will be printed by Ladybird, titled ‘What Karen didn’t do next.’

If Spitting Image was to ever return to our screens there is no doubt that Ms Bradley would be depicted as something which looks like Sponge Bob. It would seem the the secretary of state sees her job as sucking the life out of politics. She is like a hapless new school teacher who can’t control her class. Only Bradley is not new - she already held a previous cabinet post. If Bradley gets another post it should be as governor of the Falklands because she would either bore the Argentinians into submission or the Falkland Islanders would start applying for Argentinian passports.

Under Ms Bradley, Northern Ireland has become rudderless. The most senior civil servants in the country are looking for direction. Budgets are unspent and infrastructure from water to roads is crumbling beneath our feet. Hospital waiting lists are growing faster than the inflation rate in Venezuela. And the secretary of state remains aloof from the fray like some kind of colonial governor during the Raj.

Her decision to play political football over the compensation issue with the victims of historical abuse was nothing short of scandalous. She heaped hurt onto shoulders already heaving with hurt. If Bradley has a sensitivity button it is clearly malfunctioning.

The Tory/DUP supply and confidence agreement - albeit built on the quicksand of DUP opt in and out policy - has completely undermined the ability of Bradley (or any Tory secretary of state) to be regarded as impartial for the talks process. The attitude of some DUP and Tory members towards the errant and reckless behaviour of the certain former British soldiers during the Troubles is unsettling to say the least. It would seem that to add to the hierarchy of victims there is now to be a hierarchy of perpetrators and protagonists too!

Perhaps we do a disservice to Karen Bradley. She may just be a decent spud trying to do her best. Perhaps she knows the Tory/DUP deal does actually tip the balance in a negative way. Perhaps she is tongue-tied at press conferences because to speak out may let the truth out too. Or perhaps she is literally out of her depth when it comes to dealing with complex political issues. Who is to know? The lady remains schtum.

If the prolific letter writers behind so called ‘civic nationalism’ think that their well crafted prose is having an impact with the resident of Stormont House they soon will discover that they would be more successful writing to Santa Claus because at least he replies.

There is speculation that Ms Bradley will lose her job when Theresa May leaves office. Bradley’s career has been tied to the prime minister's apron strings.

That said it could also be that any incoming Tory leader may prefer to leave the beleaguered secretary of state in post. After all there can be no greater buffer zone than a politician who can shield a prime minister by soaking up pain and suffering in silence.