Debate contribution: Policing Resources

Debate contribution by Mr Timothy Gaston on 9 September 2024.

MLA: Mr Timothy Gaston
Party at the time: Traditional Unionist Voice
Date: 9 September 2024
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Policing Resources
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 4511715

Text

Certainly, I will take the opportunity in my maiden speech to highlight two seismic events that have taken place in my constituency of North Antrim since the Assembly last sat in July. Our tourism pull has been greatly strengthened after the hidden jewel of Gracehill's Moravian settlement was awarded UNESCO world heritage status, joining the Giant's Causeway in being awarded that prestigious title. I pay tribute to Dr David Johnston and the Gracehill Trust. Their vision and years of dedication and work towards preserving and restoring the 1759 Moravian settlement has led to that historic award for the village. I turn to my predecessor: the new honourable Member of Parliament for North Antrim, Mr Jim Allister, the "dead-end unionist" who brought 54 years of the Paisley dynasty in North Antrim to an end and a man of principle who stood the test of time and has been dead right in his analysis of the sinking sand on which Stormont is built and the dangers of the protocol. Whilst many in the Chamber will not want to admit it publicly, Jim leaves the House a poorer place. He will be missed for his attention to detail and the level of scrutiny he has brought to the Chamber since first being elected in 2011. Yes, it is a daunting vacancy to fill, but I take refuge in and rely on the verse:
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
That is where my faith will remain.
The motion raises a number of important questions for the Justice Minister. Chief among them is why, when questioned by any Member about any aspect of the PSNI, the Minister decrees that it is an operational matter and that the question should be directed to the Chief Constable. Yet, when the Chief Constable takes the case for funding for the PSNI to the head of the UK Government, he is reprimanded by the most senior official in the Minister's Department. Does the Minister agree with what her permanent secretary wrote? We are looking for a simple yes or no answer. Before coming to the House, I served for five years on my local PCSP, and I know all too well about the pressures that the policing budget is under. I hear the frustration of many constituents who tell me that they cannot get police officers when they need them. Likewise, I hear the frustration from PSNI officers who simply do not have the resources to deliver the service that they want to be able to offer the public and that the public rightly demand. Throughout my time as a councillor, I worked closely with the police on many issues. Indeed, I frequently raised the issue of rural crime, which is a blight and a scourge on many of our communities. I would be failing in my duty as a public representative if I did not take this opportunity to highlight the fact that there are a number of things that the PSNI spends its money on that, I believe, are not prudent. I think, for example, of the LGBT+ Network that receives funding from the PSNI budget. Staggeringly, the network has been permitted to use the police's internal email system to promote revision classes, notes and interview preparation for promotions that are available only to officers who identify as LGBT+. Unsurprisingly, when asked about that, the Equality Commission reminded us that it is unlawful for any employer to discriminate against its employees on the grounds of sexual orientation. I welcome the fact that the PSNI found reverse gear on the issue, albeit only after it came under pressure. Also, the PSNI needs to be mindful that continuing to pander to certain groups is increasingly creating a crisis of confidence in the unionist/loyalist community towards the police. I suspect that there will be those in the House who will not want to hear this, but it is nonetheless true that it is inconceivable that a PSNI officer would fly a Union flag or an Orange standard out the window of their squad car. Yet, when that happened with a GAA flag, it was not only excused but positively welcomed by some in the Chamber. A PSNI squad car cannot perform doughnuts in the road while using the siren inappropriately and waving a divisive flag out the window one day without undermining the authority of officers to pull over a young lad for similar driving offences the next.
Yes.
That is the Member's personal view. Members from the unionist community have a different take on that, Mr McNulty. We all want to see the chronic underfunding of the PSNI addressed, but my party and I also want to see the police putting their current resources to better use, as well as addressing, as a matter of urgency, the crisis in confidence that widely exists.

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

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