It used to make us mad as hell. Somebody in the class would have done something wrong – written a rude word on the board, stolen a copy book or in some other way acted in defiance of the rules. The teacher would be livid and would call for the offender to own up. The offender would stay schtum and the teacher would then say “All right, everybody in the class gets punished. Line up.”
This ran counter to the foundation stone of justice: the guilty are punished, the innocent are not. We didn’t think it out but we’d be leppin’ with rage, and assaults after class on the guilty party were not unknown.
Which brings us to Heaton-Harris and his recent pronouncement that the pay of MLAs will be cut by more than 25% as from January. You’ve probably spotted where I’m going with this.
Why should any MLA who was elected last time round and is keen to get on with governing this increasingly sad little stateen – why should such an MLA be penalised, because the DUP has decided that it isn’t going to make Stormont work? Presumably Heaton-Harris thinks it might put pressure on the DUP. Big mistake. The DUP are a party that doesn’t know the meaning of shame.And so all in the Stormont class will be punished because one party has refused to work.
If Heaton-Harris thinks that this pay-cut will put bony DUP asses into Stormont to start working, he’s sadly mistaken. And if he thinks that hitting the wage packet of all the non-DUP parties will make him popular, he should maybe have a quick read through Crime and Punishment. The Ladybird edition, of course…
In a Factory, if an Employee was to literally throw a Spanner in the Works, he’d be Sacked immediately, and the other would Workers would repair the Damage, and Continue working. BUT NOT Here in the Wee STATELET Oh No No .
Very true Jude!