Key events
In answer to the third question and on the prospect of a united Ireland, Colum Eastwood says “this for me is a very attractive proposition … This place is an economic basket case.”
DUP leader Gavin Robinson says he accepts that Northern Ireland is “chronically underfunded” by Westminster, but says it benefits from “being part of the fifth largest economy in the world”. He highlights the NHS, pointing to costs attached to accessing things like healthcare “over the border”.
Naomi Long disagrees on Robinson’s point about levelling up funding having benefited Northern Ireland. She says it’s been an “unmitigated disaster”.
As you may have noticed, we’re running a bit of a delay. The live debate has now finished. There will be a few more updates and then we’ll head to the closing remarks from the five politicians.
Question three: The unionJoel from Belfast asks the third question of the evening.
Question three: “All parties and the British government acknowledge this place has been historically underfunded. So what’s the point in being part of the union?”
Naomi Long answers first. She the Alliance party doesn’t sit on the fence and is “in favour of a united community in Northern Ireland”. She says their priority is to “reunite people in Northern Ireland”.
Long says her party “want to be part of the conversation about constitutional change”. She says: “We are open to those conversations but what we are not going to do is vote along ideologically-driven lines”.
Robbie Butler, deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist party (UUP), is also asked by Tara Mills where the leader of his party is this evening. He says Doug Beattie had “other arrangements”.
Sinn Féin’s Chris Hazzard is repeatedly asked by Tara Mills where Michelle O’Neill is this evening. Hazzard says she’s busy on the campaign trail.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood says “it’s very hard” for the public to trust political leaders “when two of them aren’t even here”. He said at the UTV debate, there were two missing then also. He says he “just doesn’t understand that”.
“The first thing politicians around here tonight can do is all commit to not bring Stormont down again, but they won’t do it,” says Eastwood.
Naomi Long disagrees with Robinson that progress has been made from the collapse of the Assembly. She says there’s no doubt that the collapse of the Assembly has “damaged our public services … and public confidence”.
She says that “it has damaged public confidence, because people now know our Stormont as it stands today is no more stable than the day before it collapsed the last time”.
Question two: Trust in politicsThe second question of the night comes via Carmen from Belfast.
Question two: “How can the leaders possibly ask the public to trust them again after years of political breakdown and controversy?”
Tara Mills turns to Gavin Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionist party (DUP, and says the DUP’s slogan “making NI work” is a bit rich as the party suspended government for two years. He says he doesn’t accept it and thinks it’s inappropriate of Mills to put it that way. The audience laughs at his reponse.
“We would far rather government had not come down at all and people recognise this place works properly and positively on the basis of consensus,” says Robinson. He adds that the DUP wants to “build on the good progress we have made” which “would not have been made without our stance”.
Naomi Long says that any time the health minister tries to progress, parties take up placards opposing any changes or reform to the health service. She says “we have a notional health service, not a national health service in Northern Ireland”.
The DUP leader Gavin Robinson says the health service could consume every pound that “we have” but that that “there are serious and signifcand challenges that need to be made”.
Robbie Butler says ‘state of the mental health of the nation is in the pits because of the politics’Robbie Butler says the “state of the mental health of the nation is in the pits because of the politics”. The UUP deputy leader says he was the first mental health champion as a politician.
He says mental health services are a main focus for the UUP in Westminster but says “consistent government” in Stormont is required.
The audience respond to the politicians with a couple of members saying they don’t want to hear about money and statistics, they want to hear about tangible policies. One lady speaks about struggling mental health services.
Colum Eastwood asks how the public will trust politicians with it if ‘we can’t even commit to staying in government’Chris Hazzard says that they need to be able to invest long term if they want to make long term transformations. The Sinn Féin’s MP candidate says: “If we want to transform our health service, if we want to transform public infrastructure, if we want to transform public services long-term, we need the ability to invest long-term.”
Colum Eastwood says he is “all for more fiscal powers” but asks how the public will trust politicians with it if “we can’t even commit to staying in government”. There is a big round of applause to this from the audience.
Naomi Long says other parties won’t sign up to propsals to reform the instiutions so they would not be able to be collapsed by any single party.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood says “there isn’t enough money in Stormont” and that the health service is “at the point of collapse”. He says the SDLP are happy to work with other parties as the issue is so important, but adds: “Where are these decisions being taken? At Westminster.”
“We need to go with one single voice and ask the British government to properly fund this health service,” says Eastwood.
Robbie Butler, deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist party (UUP), says health is the “number one topic on the doorstep”.
He’s interrupted trying to answer, but says he agrees that the “chronic underfunding of the health service is absolutely important”. Abstentionism in Stormont has also really affected health services, says Butler. He says the UUP “didn’t take their players off the pitch”.
Butler adds: “The budget doesn’t take into account this year’s pay rise for hard working staff.”
Mills asks where the executive plan is to cut waiting lists and transform services. Naomi Long, leader of the Alliance party, says it is for the Department of Health and the minister of health to have a plan. She says it is for them to bring a plan to the executive.
She also takes issue with the £184m quoted. Long says all departments should be funded fairly if “we’re to have a healthier, happier and safer society”. She compares the budget increases of health and education against the amount for justice.
Tara Mills asks DUP leader Gavin Robinson where he is cutting the £184m that Kellie mentioned. He denies that there will be a cut of £184m to the health budget. Robinson says the figure quoted comes from the end of the year last year rather than at the start.
Robinson says the DUP have highlighted that “Northern Ireland doesn’t get sufficient funding to provide public service that we need”. He adds that there has been an allocation of £450m to the Department of Health, which Robinson says is half of a £950m additional funding for Northern Ireland.
Question one: Health service budgetQuestion one: How do the parties justify voting to cut the health service budget by £184m?
Kellie from Belfast, in the audience, asks the first question of the debate.
Sinn Féin’s Chris Hazzard answers first. He says there is an understanding that after 14 years of Tory austerity that public services have been “absolutely devastated”. Hazzard says that the most significant thing is that the British government has recognised that Stormont has been underfunded.
Northern Ireland politicians general election TV debate beginsBBC journalist Tara Mills opens the debate from Belfast. She explains that all the leaders of the five main political parties in Northern Ireland were invited to take part in tonight’s debate.