Debate contribution: UK COVID-19 Inquiry: Institutional Reform

Debate contribution by Ms Paula Bradshaw on 9 December 2025.

MLA

Ms Paula Bradshaw

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

9 December 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

UK COVID-19 Inquiry: Institutional Reform

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5295672

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

The findings of module 2 of the UK COVID-19 inquiry speak directly to the functioning of the Executive during one of the most serious crises of our lifetime. Before I turn to the substance of my remarks, I confirm that we will support the SDLP's amendment. My party made it clear in its response to the draft Programme for Government that institutional reform ought to be part of the Executive's work, but that becomes impossible when the two largest parties block progress. That, in itself, illustrates why reform is needed. What the inquiry has laid out is stark; it describes a system that responded too slowly and which suffered from what Baroness Hallett called a fractured and dysfunctional approach to collective decision-making. In Northern Ireland, the dysfunction was magnified. What emerged here was a disjointed and, at times, politically motivated approach to a global emergency that touched every household. The uncomfortable truth is that some Ministers did not consistently put the people of Northern Ireland first. When unity, clarity and discipline were needed, political point-scoring too often filled the space instead. The inquiry has confirmed that. Those are not Alliance's criticisms; they are the findings of an independent, statutory process, the chair of which concluded that Northern Ireland's institutions and structures significantly weakened the Executive's ability to respond effectively in the pandemic. Rightly, the motion notes those findings with grave concern and expresses regret that there were failures of leadership displayed by Ministers from the two largest parties at key moments. Those failures are now matters of public record. There were delayed interventions, public disputes and decisions blocked when time was critical. Sadly, recent behaviour in the Chamber suggests that the culture has not materially changed. Bickering, point-scoring and the pursuit of sound bites still displace the serious collective work that the public expect from us. After the report was published, members of the public told the media that they have been conditioned not to expect much from political leaders here. That is a devastating indictment and one that we should all take seriously. Health must never be a partisan battleground. In a public health emergency, the Executive table should be a place of unity, yet the inquiry found that cohesion was missing at several key points. Baroness Hallett stated plainly that the Executive were not the central forum for crisis leadership that they needed to be. A major factor in that failing was the misuse of cross-community mechanisms. Alliance has long warned that those safeguards were designed to protect inclusion, not to be used as political weapons. During the pandemic, they were used in ways that eroded public confidence and trust at a time when trust was already fragile. That reflects a deeper structural flaw. The current cross-community voting arrangements create a democratic deficit. Alliance MLAs are elected by voters from all backgrounds, yet our votes do not count in cross-community Divisions. During the pandemic, that meant that thousands of people whom we represent were effectively excluded from some of the most consequential decisions ever taken here. The most striking example —.

I would like to make a bit of progress. The most striking example came in November 2020, when a cross-community mechanism was used to block a proposed circuit breaker, despite majority support for stronger restrictions. As Baroness Hallett noted, that left the Executive unable to take timely and consistent decisions. The result was weaker and delayed intervention during a major wave of infection. It is difficult to see the fairness or the democracy in that outcome. Dysfunction in a crisis is not just poor governance; it is dangerous governance. That is why the motion states:

"no single party should ever again have the ability to hold decision-making ... or the Executive themselves, to ransom".

No mandate gives a party the right to paralyse government when lives are at stake. Let me be clear: this is not an attack on power-sharing. Power-sharing is essential here in Northern Ireland. What we oppose is power-dividing. The institutions must be robust enough to function in a crisis. They must be fair, credible and genuinely collective when tested. We must never forget the human reality behind what happened. Thousands of people in Northern Ireland died; families grieved without funerals; older people endured isolation; disabled people felt invisible; workers faced impossible choices; and children lost months of learning, stability and their normal lives. Those are human stories, not statistics, and many families now ask, with reason, whether clearer, faster and more decisive leadership could have reduced their suffering. We cannot undo what happened, but we can choose what we learn. One of the most serious findings for Northern Ireland was the fragmentation of decision-making. The Department of Health carried an impossible burden while the Executive failed to operate as a coherent system. Authority was unclear, advice was disputed and responsibility was not shared. Baroness Hallett described that as a structural weakness that left Northern Ireland exposed. Key sectors, especially care homes, carers and disability organisations issued repeated warnings about disproportionate impacts. Their voices were not systematically built into decision-making, and that must change. Our institutions were designed to end conflict, protect identity and guarantee representation. Those purposes remain vital, but a system built primarily to manage division is not automatically a system that is capable of managing a fast-moving public health emergency. The inquiry makes that point plainly. Reform does not mean dismantling power-sharing. It means strengthening it and building resilience into the structures that we already have so that they hold firm under pressure. We need open, honest communication with the public. Trust takes years to earn and moments to lose, and we cannot claim to have learned lessons unless transparency becomes the norm rather than the exception. We must recognise that future crises will not stop at our borders. Whether the next shock is in public health, the economy or climate, cooperation with the UK Government and the Irish Government must be grounded in stable, agreed structures, not improvised arrangements made in panic. Those are the foundations of competent government, and they reflect Alliance's values: pluralism over polarisation; service over division; and the belief that good government is not optional but our duty. That is why the motion calls on the Secretary of State to convene a process of institutional reform in consultation with the Irish Government and local parties and stakeholders. Some of what is needed requires action beyond this Assembly.

We know that the Belfast Agreement was an international agreement, so we think that institutional reform will require all partners to step forward. I do not see any reason why we would exclude the partners who were instrumental in bringing about the institutions in the first place. I will move on. There will always be those who say that this is not the right time, but, if we cannot reform our institutions after a crisis that took so many lives, when will be the right time? Another crisis will come. It will not look exactly like COVID, but it will come. The test for us all is whether we act when we have the chance. We owe it to the families who grieved; the health and social care workers who carried unbearable burdens; the children and young people whose lives were disrupted; and the future generations who deserve institutions that are capable of protecting them. I urge Members to support our motion, and I commend it to the House.

1,244 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:07 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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