Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:-
“The revelation in an Assembly Answer to me that the Assembly is costing almost £50m per year will add to the public disdain of a failing system of government. £50m as the annual cost of failure is hardly a good return. Paying £1m every week for the most dysfunctional system of government in the Western world is not good enough.
“Good government is rooted not just in the quality of governance, but in the fact that if it disappoints, then, the electorate can change the government. This, however, is denied to the voters of Northern Ireland, because of the absurdity of compulsory coalition, whereby parties are placed in government as of right, with no right for the electorate to vote a party out or change their government. This is what lies at the heart of the failure of Stormont, because unlike any other democracy failure never runs the risk of losing power. What a farce. What a £50m farce!”