Debate contribution: Racial Equality Legislation

Debate contribution by Mr Mike Nesbitt on 13 October 2026.

MLA: Mr Mike Nesbitt
Party at the time: Ulster Unionist Party
Date: 13 October 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Opposition Business
Heading: Racial Equality Legislation
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5789990

Text

I am happy to report that the Ulster Unionist Party supports the motion. Mr Dickson gave us some of the shocking and unprecedented statistics on race hate incidents and race hate crimes. In June 2026 alone, there were 512 race hate incidents. That is quite shocking. It is therefore right that, during Black History Month, the Assembly recognise the contribution of that community, which is felt right across society: in schools, businesses, churches, the arts, community organisations and, of course, our hospitals and care homes. One of the great pleasures in my 27 months as Minister of Health was to meet every week members of that community who were working to deliver health and social care as part of the 70,000-odd people who do just that daily. Sadly, though, it was my misfortune that, during the two summers that I was in post, I had to pay visits in support of people who had been subjected to race attacks. In the first summer, there were race riots in Ballymena, and I stood on the streets — I have said this before in the House — and thought that there was something uniquely and profoundly sad about seeing a burnt-out mid-terrace house that had been attacked simply because of the race of the person or people who lived in it, as well as signs in front windows or on doors that read, "I am a Filipino. I work for the NHS" or Union flags. It was like Passover, because they were saying to the rioters, "Do not attack me. Pass on by". That is not the society that I want my children to come back to, as one is preparing to do, by the way. There is also a question of the blockage. I heard Ms Sheerin mention it. I chaired the Committee for the Executive Office for five years. Often, I came to the conclusion that it was the political equivalent of a cosmic black hole.
Stuff goes in but it disappears, and sometimes it never re-emerges. The fault does not lie with one side or the other; it is part of the system. It is a systemic problem with the way that we do business, and, to a large degree, it defines the challenge of consociational, or power-sharing, government. I hope that the two parties that occupy Stormont Castle can find a way out of whatever blockage is holding the strategy back, because it is so important, not just symbolically but for the people whom we are here to serve.

421 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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