Opinion

Newton Emerson: Organ donation vote shows DUP is yielding to the new reality

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson writes a twice-weekly column for The Irish News and is a regular commentator on current affairs on radio and television.

DUP MLA Paul Frew, who describes himself as a libertarian and was briefly economy minister under Edwin Poots, expressed concern that Stormont has no “right” to enforce presumed consent for organ donation. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
DUP MLA Paul Frew, who describes himself as a libertarian and was briefly economy minister under Edwin Poots, expressed concern that Stormont has no “right” to enforce presumed consent for organ donation. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire DUP MLA Paul Frew, who describes himself as a libertarian and was briefly economy minister under Edwin Poots, expressed concern that Stormont has no “right” to enforce presumed consent for organ donation. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

The DUP split four ways over the organ donation bill in Stormont on Monday.

Of its 25 MLAs, excluding deputy speaker Christopher Stalford, 10 voted for, five voted against, four abstained and six were not present. Those not present included almost the entire ministerial team, including first minister Paul Givan.

Every other party fully supported the bill, brought by UUP health minister Robin Swann, to create an opt-out system for organ donation.

The only non-DUP assembly member to vote against was independent unionist Alex Easton, who quit the DUP two months ago in despair at its leadership crisis.

A party with four stances on something that everyone else, from Jim Allister to People Before Profit, has no problem endorsing is an odd political beast indeed.

For the leadership to let members take those stances indicates major change is under way. The DUP has now effectively permitted a conscience vote on a matter of health and personal liberty. This is in the ideological neighbourhood of totemic social policy issues, most notably abortion. If the DUP moves to a formal policy of conscience votes on such subjects, like the UUP, SDLP and Alliance, it would decommission the party’s socially conservative stranglehold over Stormont.

That would largely be a recognition by the DUP that it is losing its grip over the assembly already.

Easton’s resignation and the 2018 withdrawal of the whip from Jim Wells mean the party has dropped well below the 30-seat threshold to raise a petition of concern - something it could still do after the last assembly election with the help of Allister and a couple of UUP sympathisers. Sympathisers from the UUP should be in shorter supply under new leader Doug Beattie.

Once a petition is raised it requires a vote to be passed by a majority in the assembly, including 40 to 50 per cent of unionists depending on how others vote.

After the next election, even if the DUP manages to remain as the largest unionist party, it could be too small to control this subsequent vote, even if it manages to raise a petition on abortion with SDLP sympathisers, for example.

In short, socially conservative assembly vetoes are over. Although the DUP has not quite conceded this, it is yielding to the new reality.

Allowing its MLAs a free vote revealed intriguing distinctions inside the DUP. Libertarians appeared more numerous than conservatives and were certainly more vocal. Nobody voiced any religious views surrounding the bill, despite Stormont’s health committee hearing that religious objections are an issue in organ donation.

Caleb Foundation founder Mervyn Storey and education minister Michelle McIlveen abstained - a pointed act that requires voting both yes and no. However, neither spoke in the debate. Nor did abstainer Trevor Clarke, best known for building a triple garage without planning permission. He may have just wanted to park the issue (sorry). The other abstainer, Maurice Bradley, spoke passionately in support of organ donation but added “it has to be a choice”.

Of the five DUP members who voted no, only two spoke and both took the same line as Bradley. Jolene Bunting said “the power of the state and the right the state has over our bodies is not a small thing”.

Questioned by People Before Profit’s Gerry Carroll, she said this was not inconsistent with a pro-life position.

Paul Frew, who describes himself as a libertarian and was briefly economy minister under Edwin Poots, expressed concern that Stormont has no “right” to enforce presumed consent for organ donation. “I suspect I am in a minority,” he added.

‘Libertarian’ is an imperfect and grandiose term for this tendency within the DUP. There is no freedom-loving faction trying to bust out of a church hall, or any sign of secular principles: just a spectrum of views that would probably see the whole party line out against any liberalisation of abortion but might see a few support longer liquor licensing hours - except on Sundays.

However, even vague ideals about personal liberty or concerns about the encroachment of the state are rare enough in Stormont politics to stand out. There is an electoral constituency for this position. It opens up the prospect of other futures for the DUP apart from becoming a smaller, angrier version of itself. As it loses dominance of the executive and unionism, its monolithic control-freakery could shatter and it could suddenly change in unexpected ways.