Northern Ireland 'not like Puerto Rico'

The secretary of state for Northern Ireland has said it is "bizarre" to compare the province's economy to Puerto Rico's. The US territory's corporation tax regime was raised at departmental questions by shadow NI secretary Shaun Woodward. He told the House that since 2000, 80 countries have cut corporation tax rates. "I am sure that, among those, he has studied Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States which has an effective corporation tax rate for manufacturing of two per cent," he said. "What assessment has he made of how that has helped tackle unemployment in that United States territory, and how it has helped those countries generally to recover from global recession?" NI secretary Own Paterson said Woodward's comparison was "bizarre" and said that he spent "three and a half years travelling to Northern Ireland every week ... I went to businesses, and week after week they said that a reduction in corporation tax would most help them". Woodward hit back, saying unemployment is at 16 per cent in Puerto Rico and the economy of the island is in recession. "Given the vital importance of infrastructure, education and skills to attracting and retaining business, will he guarantee that any consequential changes to the annual block grant and from tax revenue will not leave the executive with an annual net loss? Yes or no?" he asked. Paterson said the previous government had left the UK "with a bill of £280,000 a minute in borrowing and £120 million a day in interest costs". He said that following the low corporation tax in the south of Ireland will grow revenue. A government consultation paper on rebalancing the Northern Ireland economy will be published tomorrow. It includes a discussion on the potential for transferring the power to reduce corporation tax to the devolved executive, Paterson told the House. The issue of donations to political parties in Northern Ireland was also raised. Jeffrey Donaldson (DUP, Lagan Valley) complained that there is a loophole that enables some parties to bring funds in through the Republic of Ireland, "without requiring the kind of registration that applies to funds donated within the United Kingdom". NI minister Hugo Swire said any donation over £7,500 has to be declared to the Electoral Commission, as it does in the rest of the UK. "When we move towards a bill on the whole issue of elections in Northern Ireland, we can certainly look at that issue, along with other anomalies that we believe exist," he said. Steve Rotheram (Lab, Liverpool Walton) mocked the "snappy title" of Ulster Conservative and Unionist New Force, the joint Tory/UUP banner that the parties fought the last general election under. "Will the secretary of state share with the House how the new force in UK politics is doing these days?" he asked. Swire said the Tories are "committed to bringing national politics to Northern Ireland". "I can assure him that many people in Northern Ireland and in the rest of the United Kingdom wish to support a Conservative party, which is why we are in government and he is not," he said.