Our first article here at the youth voice, it had to be a big one. An interview with the Minister for Policing and Justice, Naomi Long of the Alliance Party.
The interview was intended to be a podcast but a technical difficulty lost any recording, however the interview went very well and I didn’t want to waste the Minister’s time so here we are.
Naomi was extremely pleasant, very honest and spoke with genuine conviction.
The first topic of discussion was votes at 16, following the implementation of votes at 16 in Welsh local elections I was keen to quiz the minister on her thoughts. She was absolutely in support of it coming into effect over here in NI hopefully by the next local government elections. We discussed the idea that everyone has the right to take part in democracy and the old slogan “no taxation without representation.”
Another topic was mandatory coalition. With the APNI announcing recently its support for a transition to a voluntary coalition I wanted to hear her views on the topic. Many people myself included were sceptical about the idea of normalised politics however Minister Long explained that her party supported a long term transition to voluntary coalition rather than a Bolshevik style revolution.
The final thing we spoke about was the controversial decision to fine BLM protesters in Belfast in the summer of 2020. Naomi reiterated her position of support for the BLM movement however said that it was a time were public health had to be prioritised. The conversation moved to the discussion about restrictions on civil liberties. The Minister said that she hoped to see a strengthening of hate crime laws and that the right to free speech also comes with the responsibility of respect. The Covid19 restrictions had been balanced largely between lives and livelihoods however the Minister said we should be considering “lives, livelihoods but also liberties.”
The interview was highly informative and unlike many senior figures Minister Long spoke to me with respect and honesty.
Written by Dermot Hamill
Youth Voice 