Northern Ireland

British government to drop bid to reintroduce double-jobbing if rejected by peers

Boris Johnson has been urged to drop a bid to reintroduce double jobbing. Picture by House of Commons/PA Wire
Boris Johnson has been urged to drop a bid to reintroduce double jobbing. Picture by House of Commons/PA Wire Boris Johnson has been urged to drop a bid to reintroduce double jobbing. Picture by House of Commons/PA Wire

THE BRITISH government will drop its bid to reintroduce double-jobbing if the House of Lords votes down the controversial amendment today.

All Stormont's main parties bar the DUP are opposed to a return to dual mandates, which were abolished in 2016.

The move would ensure DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson did not have to resign his Lagan Valley Westminster seat if elected to Stormont in May's assembly election.

However, sources at the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) have confirmed that the proposal will not be forced through if rejected by the Lords following a debate today.

There were concerns that if peers voted against NIO minister Lord Jonathan Caine's amendment to the Northern Ireland Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern Bill then the British government would seek to get it passed by MPs.

But it is understood that protocol dictates that if an amendment introduced in the Lords is thrown out by peers then it will not be reintroduced in the House of Commons.

Last night, six Stormont parties wrote to Boris Johnson urging the prime minister to ditch the plans.

The letter is signed by Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, Alliance leader Naomi Long, UUP leader Doug Beattie, Green leader Clare Bailey and People Before Profit's Gerry Carroll.

The correspondence speaks of the parties' "firm opposition" to the proposal, which the British government says will bring the north into line with Scotland.

"The roles of MP and MLA are full time roles, and it is not possible for someone to simultaneously do full justice to both," the letter says.

"The parties highlight the lack of consultation on a measure "brought forward just months away from an assembly election".

They say it cannot be seen as impartial – "benefitting as it does only one party".

"It has also departed from the stated position of the Northern Ireland Office that such amendments would only be considered where 'sufficient consensus' exists: in fact, all parties with the exception of the DUP are firmly opposed to any return to double jobbing," the letter says.

"Furthermore, we have significant concerns that the implications of this amendment could fuel political instability, in direct contradiction of the stated purpose of the bill."

Former SDLP leader and Labour peer Baroness Margaret Ritchie said she too was opposed to what she termed a "corruption of democracy".

"I am firmly opposed to double jobbing and hope it never returns to the Northern Ireland political lexicon," she told The Irish news.

"I still believe some kind of deal has been done between the British government and the DUP, which I regard as a corruption of democracy."

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has denied there was any deal done, claiming the reintroduction of dual mandates had been raised before he indicated a desire to return to Stormont.