Allowing politics to succeed

A Loyalist mural in Belfast aspires - rather than commits - to peace

SHAUN Woodward has unusual expectations for a Cabinet Minister in the middle of a General Election campaign. He neither wants nor expects voters to credit his party for its achievements in his portfolio. That’s not because Labour has nothing to shout about – securing what increasingly looks like a stable and peaceful settlement in that portfolio of Northern Ireland may rank as one of this government’s enduring achievements.

Rather, as the longest serving Ulster Secretary since Patrick Mayhew declares: “The peace process has undoubtedly led to a change in people in Northern Ireland’s lives which allows them to enjoy what people have in the rest of the UK and in the Republic of Ireland: stability which allows prosperity. We don’t expect people to be grateful for that. If government can’t do that, what else is it for?”

Instead, and less surprisingly, the man widely thought to enjoy the ear of the Prime Minister is very keen to talk about the shifting landscape of this General Election campaign. “The (televised leadership) debate has ensured that the public are really engaging in what the parties have to offer,” he says. “We are all involved in a very open contest now, and the public will over the next two weeks very carefully scrutinise the various choices the parties are putting forward.”

It is a description that reflects Labour’s willingness to emphasise the transformed nature of the campaign in the wake of Nick Clegg’s perceived victory in last week’s televised debate, and which has led to accusations that Labour is playing for a hung Parliament – and a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. Woodward’s characterisation of the UK’s third party, a not-wholly-insurmountable 9,309 votes behind Labour in Woodward’s St Helens South constituency, does little to deflect that charge.

“The Lib Dems offer some solutions but its not a complete picture,” he claims delicately. “On substance and policies there are serious flaws and incoherences.” As the campaign heads towards its denouement, the man who occupied David Cameron’s seat of Witney before defecting to Labour in 1999 believes that voters will see through the novelty. “When you stand what it is they have to say up to scrutiny – for example, on their policies on defence or economic coherence – people will ask ‘does this add up’?”

But it is the additive process of devolving power in Northern Ireland that is the subject of the interview. With justice and policing finally devolved after 12 years, does Woodward see a time when the basis of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement – power sharing between parties and communities, rather than a straightforward largest-party wins approach – is revisited?

Woodward: "What matters in all the settlements across the nations of the UK is an understanding that it’s not about having a Cabinet person in one of the nations."

“The Belfast Agreement changed the fundamentals,” he says. “Because of the past it proscribed a model of government that has allowed politics to succeed.” Nor is he prepared to concede that the idea of cross-community politics can be weakened unless those inside the system will it. “I can only see changes emerging that are a direct consequence of being mutually agreed by all the parties and all the communities. This settlement has been long and hard won. We should take none of this for granted. For a British Secretary of State to make those kind of predictions would be foolish.”

What it actually means to be a British Secretary of State in Northern Ireland is now quite different. With the last piece of devolution now in place, it is a role set to become more like that of the Welsh Secretary, often described unkindly as that of a go-between. Does this now mean that the way is clear for the much-discussed merger of the three territorial departments into a single Office of the Nations and Regions?

On that Woodward leaves careful wiggle room: “What matters in all the settlements across the nations of the UK is an understanding that it’s not about having a Cabinet person in one of the nations. It’s about making sure that the nations have representation in the Cabinet. It doesn’t necessarily follow that just because devolution has been achieved in the way it has in Northern Ireland that you would automatically say that there now needs to be a change in the arrangements. That doesn’t mean to say there won’t be.”

Another comparison between Wales and Northern Ireland is the size of their public sectors relative to the overall economy. Indeed, the Treasury commissioned Varney report of 2008 found that public spending in Northern Ireland was the highest of any part of the UK, at 67% of GVA. Wales, at 58% was second. The UK as a whole was 45%. Does Woodward therefore believe that the both public sectors should be reduced relative to their total economies?

“I think the important thing is making sure we grow the economy. The recession has demonstrated that the private sector has come under great pressure, and it’s been the public sector that has kept the economy going. So a little bit of caution – you’ve got to remember one of the reasons for the size of the public sector in Northern Ireland is that for 40 years the Troubles meant that the private sector found it a very destabilising experience. The situation in Wales is based on different circumstances.”

It is a message that appears to suggest little departure from the significant levels of spending of the past few years, despite the fiscal pressures now looming. And the message overall is that, despite the so-called normalisation of Northern Ireland, it remains a very different place, as last night’s car bomb in Newtownhamilton bears witness. The credit that Woodward seems reluctant to claim is perhaps with reason. What is next for this distinct and still divided corner of the UK remains uncertain. Peace and stability is dug in, but not yet irreversible.