Gerry Adams is to step down as an MP, landing British taxpayers with a bill for tens of thousands of pounds in the process.
The Sinn Fein leader announced yesterday that he will give up his Westminster seat - and his seat on the Northern Ireland Assembly - in order to contest a constituency in the Irish Republic.
It means Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Provisional IRA, will be entitled to a ‘winding-up allowance’, worth up to £41,000, to pay for office costs and staff redundancy.
Accused: Gerry Adams carries a coffin at a republican funeral in 2008. He faces allegations that he was part of unit that 'disappeared' people
Adams has the right to claim the huge amount despite the fact that he – along with the other four Sinn Fein MPs – has never taken his seat in the Commons because he regards Britain as an occupying power in Northern Ireland.
The Sinn Fein MPs should never have been paid, neither should their expenses been paid if they had no intention of taking their seats. No doubt, he will want a pension from the British Taxpayer and that shouldn't be paid either. I can understand, how they feel about Westminster, but they are murdering scum an should have been taken out by the SAS years ago, just as they killed and maimed their own people. What kind of job is it that you don't turn up for and still get paid? We'd all want a job like that!
Bombs don't discriminate between religions.
9 comments:
Yes it's right that he get the winding up allowance because,
a) it's not for him its for his staff who will have to find new positions or relocate and
b) Adams is constantly in the news campaigning on local issues. He has served the needs of his constituents who gave him a _mandate_ to be a non-attending MP.
Sazzers, welcome to the blog.
a) If he's not doing the functions of an MP, why does he need a staff?
b) He should get a job as a councillor and that would serve the local needs of his people better.
c) He is a murederer whose bombs have killed Catholic as well as Protestant
d) Who the fuck kills someone when the whole thing is bollox and they are following the same imaginary God at the end of the day. I could imagine a Christian killing a Muslim under extreme circumstances, but one Christian killing another Christian? Very strange.
Please comment again. Do you have Republican leanings or are you from Ireland?
"Gerry Adams is to step down as an MP, landing British taxpayers with a bill for tens of thousands of pounds in the process."
Its is not only British people who pay taxes. Irish people, including the Irish people living in West Belfast who gave Gerry Adams his mandate, also pay taxes.
"...It means Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Provisional IRA..."
The Provisional IRA have decommissioned and disbanded, thanks in great part to the efforts and leadership of Mr. Adams.
"... will be entitled to a ‘winding-up allowance’, worth up to £41,000, to pay for office costs and staff redundancy."
Similar to the same event in other constituencies.
"Adams has the right to claim the huge amount despite the fact that he – along with the other four Sinn Fein MPs – has never taken his seat in the Commons because he regards Britain as an occupying power in Northern Ireland."
They also ran their campaign on this policy of Abstentionism. The people of those constituencies democratically voted those MPs in and expect them to honour their promise of Abstentionism.
"The Sinn Fein MPs should never have been paid, neither should their expenses been paid if they had no intention of taking their seats."
Mate, if your MP does all his work while on his backside in the House of Commons then it’s the people of your constituency I feel sorry for. Gerry Adams and his staff have done sterling work for the people of West Belfast and elsewhere.
"No doubt, he will want a pension from the British Taxpayer and that shouldn't be paid either."
I don't know about that but just encase you don't know I'd like to remind you of Sinn Féin's policy on MPs and MLAa salaries. As part of their commitment to socialist policies their representatives only take an industrial wage. I can't remember how much that is but its somewhere in the region of £22,000. Not measly at all but can you imagine Cameron, Boris J., Brown, Clegg or any of them doing a similar thing? I assure you, Mr. Adams is not in this game, as it were, for the money.
"I can understand, how they feel about Westminster, but they are murdering scum an should have been taken out by the SAS years ago, just as they killed and maimed their own people."
Perhaps the British forces were too busy gunning down civilians in Derry?
"What kind of job is it that you don't turn up for and still get paid? We'd all want a job like that!"
Again, the Sinn Féin MPs do their work to a very high standard. They do not need to attend Westminster to do this; there are very few pieces of legislation that could be changed by the votes of the Irish MPs.
And your above responses to saz2020:
"a) If he's not doing the functions of an MP, why does he need a staff?"
Because the majority of the work is based in bread and butter issues - getting the roads service to sort out potholes etc.; helping people out with confusing DLA forms etc.; just working for the people. Other duties include liaising with investment opportunities.
"b) He should get a job as a councillor and that would serve the local needs of his people better."
Sinn Féin has some excellent Councillors in West Belfast and all over the island. Their duties are being performed admirably. That is why they are the largest party in the North.
"c) He is a murderer whose bombs have killed Catholic as well as Protestant"
Leaving aside the fact that Mr. Adams denies membership of paramilitary organisations and no case has been brought against him due to the lack of evidence, your previous government in Britain sent its army and bombs to Iraq killing hundreds of thousands of civilians. The current government is made mostly of members of the Tory party and we know all too well their shady past all over the world.
"d) Who the fuck kills someone when the whole thing is bollox and they are following the same imaginary God at the end of the day. I could imagine a Christian killing a Muslim under extreme circumstances, but one Christian killing another Christian? Very strange."
For the Republican community it was not a case of Catholic v. Protestant. It was Irish people fighting for freedom from British tyranny. They celebrate with pride the Protestants who fought alongside them as Irish Republican comrades, including Wolfe Tone, Henry Joy McCracken, and Robert Emmett.
Reading over this, I sound quite sharp. Its unintentional, I'm here for dialogue, not to lecture or insult.
Wee Kay, first of all welcome to the blog.
"Its is not only British people who pay taxes. Irish people, including the Irish people living in West Belfast who gave Gerry Adams his mandate, also pay taxes".
Well why don't they fuck off home and pay taxes in Ireland, fuck me they need it. The Irish have been coming over here for years particularly before the EU and have taken our jobs and most of them in particular those wankers who do the tarmacadaming aren't paying taxes.
"The Provisional IRA have decommissioned and disbanded, thanks in great part to the efforts and leadership of Mr. Adams."
And so he should the murdering bastard.
"The Sinn Fein MPs should never have been paid, neither should their expenses been paid if they had no intention of taking their seats."
So he was getting paid as well and he wasn't there, some fucking job that.
It doesn't matter what he gets, he'll be getting fucking plenty from other sources like all politicians here or there.
I believe the British Government has apologised for Londonderry, I don't remember any apologies coming from McGuinness or Adams or any other of the murdering gangsters.
Wee Kay, a) Fair enough b)Fair enough c)We both know that he was in the IRA with McGuiness and Iraq is also wrong IMO, as you will know if you've been here before. However two wrongs don't make a right.
d)Well right some of the time, I can accept that. But, you have to remember that religion often came into it despite there being Catholics who don't want to be part of the South and many Catholics in the South who don't want Ulster. What about Omagh? That was indiscriminate.
Whilst, I can't claim any recent experience, I used to buy fish all over the North, Portavogie, Ardglass and Kilkeel and extensively in the South in places you haven't even heard of like Helvic and Castletowbere, so I do have extensive knowledge of the troubles and how people felt then.
I am not unsympathetic to the cause of an Ireland united, but whilst while I can empathise with the 'Catholics', I can also empathise with the other bunch. Believe me, I am much more likely to support Celtic than Rangers, despite the fact that I'm a baptised Protestant.
Dialogue and difference of opinion is what this blog is all about and please come back and air your views any time. You can say what you like as forcibly as you like as long as you don't indulge in personal insults if you don't agree with someone else's point.
"Well why don't they fuck off home and pay taxes in Ireland, fuck me they need it. The Irish have been coming over here for years particularly before the EU and have taken our jobs and most of them in particular those wankers who do the tarmacadaming aren't paying taxes."
You have any idea how insulting that statement is to Irish people? Irish people in the north of Ireland pay taxes to the British treasury due to the British occupation of that area. As such their representatives are as entitled to any salaries/expenses/pensions as anywhere else under British rule.
"So he was getting paid as well and he wasn't there, some fucking job that. It doesn't matter what he gets, he'll be getting fucking plenty from other sources like all politicians here or there."
From where? Adams' main source of income is probably from the numerous books he has written and sell phenominally. All above board.
"I believe the British Government has apologised for Londonderry, I don't remember any apologies coming from McGuinness or Adams or any other of the murdering gangsters."
Well then you haven't looked very much. The Provisional IRA have apologised and offered condolenses to the families of all the civilians killed by their actions during the Troubles. Adams himself has reiterated many times that no civilian should have been targeted. Do a quick google search before you come out with nonsense like that!
"We both know that he was in the IRA with McGuiness"
McGuiness, yes; Adams, no. Adams has denied it and there is no compelling evidence to suggest otherwise.
"What about Omagh? That was indiscriminate."
Omagh was a bombing by those who call themselves the "Real IRA". This is not the Provisional IRA and they have no connections whatsoever with Sinn Féin.
Again, this ultimately comes down to the fact that Adams is a public representative with a mandate from the tax-paying Irish people of West Belfast (a mandate which includes the expectation that he refuses to attend Westminister) and as such he is entirely entitled to the same salaries/pensions/expenses etc. that other representatives, in other constituencies with other political ideologies, are.
Wekayers,
Irish people in the north of Ireland pay taxes to the British treasury due to the British occupation of that area.
Well first of all the majority of people want to be British and that is their right. Can you imagine how bad it is for me a Scottish Nationalist, whose country has won the lottery with oil and it has been getting pissed away by the UK Government for years. The Tarmacadam thing was a joke.
From where? Adams' main source of income is probably from the numerous books he has written and sell phenominally. All above board. Bollox all politicians are on the take when they get to his level. Believe it.
Adams himself has reiterated many times that no civilian should have been targeted. Do a quick google search before you come out with nonsense like that! It's my job to talk nonsense to stimulate debate!
McGuiness, yes; Adams, no. Ah he's a terrorist, or my names not DL!
Omagh was a bombing by those who call themselves the "Real IRA".
Doesn't matter what they're called, their still the IRA to
Brits on the mainland. The Provos should have shut them down. Mind you they are rumoured to be ex Provo anyway.
I maintain that Adams should not get his full amount paid to him or his organisations, unless he's there to represent his constituents in Westminster and remember, I have some sympathy with your cause.
Anyway he should have paid those fucking actors whose voices were used when we weren't allowed to hear his!
>Do you have Republican leanings or are you from Ireland?
I'm English and involved in the campaign for an English parliament.
I'm a 'Little Englander' in its original sense, rather than in the pejorative right wing way its used these days. I think England should be in charge of her own destiny and no one else's.
The 'Union' is a myth that has been promoted by those with a vested interest in maintaining it. For the rest of us it has been a cause of nothing but strife. We'd make better neighbours if we didn't have to live under the same British government.
Partition in Ireland should never have happened, it was a recipe for disaster from the start.
I believe religion is an entirely secondary issue to the political issues in Ireland. The protestants who were left behind in the republic after partition have integrated fine.
Besides, the differences between protestant and catholic are apparently not so great that swapping between them is easier than coping with having a woman about the place...
In terms of your response to my original post I would fully endorse 'wee kay's' responses to them so no more needs be said.
I am also an atheist btw so I'm with you on the whole pointlessness of fighting over an imaginary god.
Unlike you, however, I do differentiate between the Provisional IRA and the dissidents who are blind morons unable to come to terms with the new political landscape.
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