The access strip, although then worth an estimated £220,000 was sold for £5. Although they did not made a profit on this transaction, without it, they would not have been able to secure the £460,000 for part of their garden. Furthermore, buying and selling the land for a mere fiver, the Robinsons avoided thousands of pounds in capital gains tax.
Peter Robinson failed to declare the property on the MP’s Register of Interests. He also failed to declare a possible conflict of interest when he attended a Castlereagh Council meeting where the planning application involving his garden, was to be discussed.
Once again, these revelations confirm the cosy relationships between the political establishment and wealthy business people. It is no coincidence that Fred Fraser, one of the wealthiest property developers in Northern Ireland, was involved in many of housing developments in Castlereagh, a council politically dominated by the Robinsons for decades.
How many other councillors, MLAs and MPs have close corrupt links with wealthy business people? The Assembly is selling off our public services through Public Private Partnerships and Public Finance Initiatives, handing millions of pounds of our tax payers mone to private companies who, in return, run down our services as they seek to maximise their profits.
Working class people need a mass working class party, with representatives who live on a workers wage, defending our rights and interests.
This week's Budget is a declaration of war against working class and poor people. The Tory/Lib Dem government is attempting to spin the Budget as being progressive. Nothing could be further from the truth. This Budget will lead to major cuts to public services, wage cuts, job losses, attacks on benefits and further tax cuts for the super-rich.
The ULA held its first National Forum of June 25th in Liberty Hall, Dublin. For the Socialist Party's assessment of the Forum and the tasks facing the ULA see the article on this site entitled "ULA Forum – Building the alternative”.
On 23rd July, Queen’s University’s (QUB) senate met and agreed an academic plan for the next five years which will see 103 staff being made redundant. The most dramatic effect of the cuts will be the closure of the German department, but all the university’s schools will be effected in some way.