Debate contribution: Exclusion of the Minister of Education from Office
Debate contribution by Mr Jon Burrows on .
- MLA
- Mr Jon Burrows
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 10 November 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Assembly Business
- Heading
- Exclusion of the Minister of Education from Office
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5224302
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I rise with a deep sense of regret and dismay: regret that so many Members of this House are being led by a man whose conduct in the hours after that awful attack on the people of Israel was nothing short of outrageous and regret that the passion and intensity that they whip up at times like this are not replicated when we are dealing with domestic public services issues. If they were, perhaps services might not be in the mess that they are. Let me say at the outset that there has been terrible loss on both sides, but let us look at where this first began. The attack on the people of Israel was an evil one. Twelve hundred people were killed, 250 people were taken hostage, babies were butchered and women and girls were raped. That is the Palestinian resistance that this man fist-pumped, shamefully, on social media. That is the man whom you follow today. There has been devastating loss on both sides, and I have as much empathy for the bereavement of Palestinians as I do for Israelis. They are both made in God's image. Israel has a responsibility to prosecute its war with as much precision and proportionality as possible, but that is made nigh on impossible by the fact that Hamas weaved itself into the community in Palestine. It embeds itself into schools and hospitals. In fact, the fact that it weaves itself into every nook and cranny of Palestinian society is something that the next president of Ireland has hailed as a good thing. Israel can be judged, as every state should be, on its prosecution of war. Not by this Chamber, but by those with the expertise and the evidence to do so. Let me tell you why I will oppose the motion.
No, I will not give way. I have heard enough from you, Mr Carroll.
I will tell you why I and the Ulster Unionist Party oppose the motion. First, we will not be led by the man who celebrated the attack on the people of Israel. To the people who are being led, it is not too late to think again. The SDLP — the party of Hume, Mallon and McGrady — is following a man who tweeted, "Victory to the Palestinian Resistance". The Alliance Party, which was on the middle ground —.
No, I will not give way. The Alliance Party, which is trying to untangle itself from its dalliance with republican language about the past, is doubling down on that. I see the Member pull his face, but yesterday, when Ms Bradshaw was talking about memorials to terrorists, she said that they were for ex-combatants. That is the language of Sinn Féin. The people who blew up Enniskillen in the Poppy Day massacre are not ex-combatants; they were terrorists. That is why I will not support the motion. Secondly, the motion is destabilising. We did not support Mr Gaston's motion, which, actually, I thought was fairly presented in the sense that Minister Long had lost a lot of confidence. I think that her leadership is disastrous and that her language about victims was atrocious, but, if we all started backing motions that were brought about fellow Ministers in our Executive, there would be no government. Where would it end? It is proper scrutiny, not stunt politics and Punch and Judy politics, that brings real accountability. Thirdly, we must deliver for our people here in Northern Ireland. There are places in my constituency where planning permission cannot be passed to build homes and schools because the sewerage is at capacity, so people are moving out and the school population declines and the villages are dying. We should be here until midnight discussing those things. Basic infrastructure has failed because many in politics have failed. The challenges to special educational needs are huge. School buildings are crumbling. There are children who travel for three hours to get to school every day, but, no, we want to talk about matters of international affairs. I tuned in, slightly late, to the Education Committee last week. For a moment, I thought that I had tuned into the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs at the Houses of Parliament, but then I saw two Sinn Féin members, and, clearly, they would not go to Parliament.
I will not give way. What are we doing debating these issues with such passion and intensity while we crumble here at home? I did not appeal to Sinn Féin's moral compass, because it has none. It is the party of the PIRA, of Hamas, of FARC, of ETA. You judge people
by the company that they keep.
For those reasons, we extend sympathy to and empathy for everyone affected by the crisis in the Middle East and every other humanitarian crisis. The biggest in the world at the minute is in Sudan, which the Member does not mention —
— because it does not suit his antisemitic narrative.
831 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Awaiting analysis
This record has not been analysed yet. It is not counted in any total until it has been assessed.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reviews every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.