On the hustings

Election to the assembly takes place on Wednesday 26 November

BBC News Online takes a look at the political statements in the election campaign to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Friday 14 November 2003

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David McNarry, UUP, Strangford

When in office, the DUP controlled the Regional Development Department and they sat tight doing nothing to ease the impending water disaster they knew all about. They were the ones sitting on a time bomb and despite having the responsibility, they did nothing to defuse it. Only the suspension of Stormont got them out of it all. Had they remained in office it is crystal clear that the DUP would have introduced high water rate charges.

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Patricia Lewsley, SDLP, Lagan Valley
We have often wondered if the Alliance is serious about equality. But their manifesto actually confirms that they are against some fundamental equality protections. They want to dismantle the Patten quota. But an essential guarantee of an impartial police service is a representative one...Worse, they want to weaken fair employment monitoring. They don't like the fact that employers have to determine people's religion. But if an employer cannot do this, it becomes much harder to identify workforces where either community is under-represented.

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Jim Wells, DUP, South Down
The cut-off date for applications to be submitted for electoral identity cards is 17 November. Any applications after this date will not result in voters receiving their cards before election day on the 26th. I am very concerned that there are still a significant number of voters who do not yet have the correct identification to vote. I am calling upon the Electoral Office to make provisions so that applications for electoral identity cards can be processed here in Northern Ireland and the cards sent out from here.