Naomi Long MLA @naomi_long@respublicae.eu

@wilsondan @timmckane @MrRCain27 Yep. You can check on the Assembly website how much.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603792160070983681

@Steven_OConnor1 @irish_news @ClaireHanna @moneillsf @BeattieDoug @RobbieButlerMLA @StephenFarryMP @J_Donaldson_MP @gordonlyons1 Steven, if you're here to engage in name-calling, go find a playground and knock yourself out.

He is, as you know rightly, in negotiations with the EU: that's urgent for political & economic stability. And he could okay energy payments: they've been at this since Oct, remember.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603792002247712769

@wilsondan @timmckane @MrRCain27 I can and do communicate that anger, but my job is also to communicate solutions that might actually work; that's what we were doing last night.

Snubbing him or being rude won't win us any influence about how he can help fix this mess.

You need to take this up with the DUP.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603790912009691136

@wilsondan @timmckane @MrRCain27 Oh, trust me. The DUP and SoS would beg to differ after our meeting yesterday. I know people are furious: I'm furious, too. I left neither of them in any doubt of that.

That frustration was conveyed in the discussion: we were also clear about what needed to happen and fast. >

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603789418057310208

@Steven_OConnor1 @irish_news @ClaireHanna @moneillsf @BeattieDoug @RobbieButlerMLA @StephenFarryMP @J_Donaldson_MP @gordonlyons1 Erm...he's the PM? He can get a deal with EU that protects dual market access for NI. He can get the energy payments made to people who need them.

That's precisely why we were there to talk to him and impress on him the urgency of this.

A smile for a photo is a coutesy reflex.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603788054824722433

@MartinMcAll @dmcbfs @duponline They'll start in January, apparently, but it could take until June for all payments to go through. I think it'll be devastating for people who thought they'd have this by last month.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603787143486361600

@jumpingjimmy85 @dmcbfs Yes, that's not the issue. The issue is cashing out to let people, for example, buy oil. There's no way to prove the card is owned by the person getting the cash - that link isn't there.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603786774991577088

@590Catherine @MrRCain27 @timmckane Not sure if that's a compliment or not, but I'm taking it 😂

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603783569574445060

@MartinMcAll @dmcbfs I've answered this a couple of times if you scroll through the answers. No Assembly, one is per person the other per household, and UKG eanted it restricted to energy payments.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603783159161708544

@wilsondan @timmckane @MrRCain27 We didn't have dinner with him. We had soft drinks at an informal meeting. 🙄 And we were raising that specific issue with him and the Secretary of State on behalf of those struggling to cope right now. He's the only one can fix this, with the Assembly & Executive held to ransom.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603782754725859328

@Steven_OConnor1 @irish_news @ClaireHanna @moneillsf @BeattieDoug @RobbieButlerMLA @StephenFarryMP @J_Donaldson_MP @gordonlyons1 We were in the room specifically to raise what's going on with the only person who can actually fix it - the PM. We have no other alternative, given there's no devolution atm.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603782233621684227

@SeanMcC1967 @timmckane @MrRCain27 It is. I didn't say I liked his politics.

I said he was better than Johnson or Truss - which is a low bar.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603780762762887174

@GarethBurns18 @timmckane Who agreed it, Gareth? The public didn't. Neither did parties. NDNA was the governments' best guess at how to land things.

We'd argued for reform then as now and warned NDNA fix was inadequate.

We'll implement NDNA in good faith but we can't slavishly follow a broken plan.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603747311573762051

@timmckane @MrRCain27 Hard to tell, Tim. He says he cares, wants an agreed way forward with the EU, and to work to get devolution restored.

He's professional, personable and polished - which is an improvement on the last two.

Still, proof of the pudding is in the eating. I'll judge by what he does.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603744190629920770

@MrRCain27 @timmckane We don't pick the venue? He invited us. He flew in and came to his hotel where we met him, straight off the flight.

If the venue bothers you, tweet @10DowningStreet.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603743202422685698

@MrRCain27 @timmckane So would you rather we meet the PM and make the case and try to pursuade him to act or snub him by not going?

Which do you think would best deliver?

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603740974282416128

@grandaerk1 @dmcbfs @DavidFordxMLA The UKG set some money aside for SHA, then reneged on delivering and kept the money. The Police Ombudsman, the @PoliceServiceNI, @thePPSNI are all struggling to deal with contemporary crime and also carry legacy cases with little extra funding. And very little on reconciliation.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603740634434740224

@grandaerk1 @dmcbfs I agree on legacy: we wanted the Stormont House Agreement implemented to do that comprehensively. The only real progress made has been with inquests (the LCJ and @DavidFordxMLA as Justice Minister) and the Victims' pension, which I delivered in Justice. >

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603739564849467392

@19grand @dmcbfs It's what we have argued for in our Green New Deal: energy payments are a short-term solution. We need to look at energy security and energy efficiency. Both insulate people from fluctuations in the market and are good for the planet.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603738782725013507

@MrRCain27 @timmckane Yes, we pressed him hard, on the protocol, Assembly restoration and reform and on the need for energy payments to proceed.

We weren't in a restaurant: we were in a room, at the hotel where he was staying, at his request. We didn't book it.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/naomi_long/status/1603738261742125057