THE NORTH’S First and Deputy First Ministers will form a united front against any attempt to reduce the British subvention under the Barnett Formula when they meet British prime minister Gordon Brown at Downing Street on Wednesday.
After a meeting of the British-Irish Council in the Welsh capital yesterday, First Minister Peter Robinson told The Irish Times: “The present prime minister when he was chancellor of the exchequer came out on to the street in Downing Street to inform the waiting press that he had, in fact, agreed a peace package for Northern Ireland that would help the devolved government for the next three years so that they would have certainty about the amount of money that was at their disposal.”
Commenting on suggestions that the subvention might be cut, Mr McGuinness said: “If that were to be the case, or if that were to be threatened, I would be very concerned about it but, like Peter, I very much remember the meetings that we attended prior to the restoration of the institutions where the British government made it clear what our budget was going to be, over a period of some 10 years.
“We clearly need to see all of that reiterated in terms of the safeguarding of the commitments that were made, because we’re under huge pressure at the moment.
He said that essentially Mr Brown had “to keep his word”.
Asked if there would be a united front between himself and Mr Robinson, Mr McGuinness replied: “Well, on the economy we’re always united and indeed on many other matters as well.”
Mr Robinson said: “The sort of figures that are being talked about . . . would require Northern Ireland to make efficiencies of £200 million or more.
“As the Deputy First Minister knows, that means job losses of very significant proportions if it were to be applied to Northern Ireland. So we will be asking the prime minister to stand over his word to us.”
