Long's Decision Cynical Calculation
Robin Newton East Belfast MLA said the decision of Naomi Long to sit on the opposition benches at Westminster is an act of cynical calculation.
Robin Newton said:
“The Alliance Party has consistently aligned itself with the Liberal Democrats. Indeed, it was the Liberal Democrats who played a role in securing a peerage for Mrs. Long’s predecessor John Alderdice, who sits in the House of Lords as a Liberal Democrat. Alliance has consistently described the relationship with the Liberal Democrats as that of a sister party.
Mrs. Long, presumably because she does not want to be associated with the budget cuts her Liberal Democrat colleagues in cahoots with the Tories have planned for Northern Ireland has chosen to sit on the opposition benches. This apparent rejection of her political associates is cynical calculation of the worst kind.
During the General Election Mrs. Long was very forthright about wanting to see Vince Cable as Chancellor of the Exchequer. You can’t cheerlead for Liberal Democrats during an election and then try to put distance between yourself and them afterwards. The Tory/Liberal Democrat cuts in Northern Ireland will be ushered in by Alliance’s sister-party.
I can understand Mrs. Long’s embarrassment but it will take more than a change to seating arrangements to disguise the reality of what Alliance’s Lib Dem friends have planned for East Belfast’s nurses, schoolteachers and classroom assistants.”
