Cynics may note...
In the immediate aftermath of Dawn Purvis's resignation as PUP leader I
wrote here that "cynics may note that this puts her Stormont allowances
beyond the grasp of any future sanction from the Independent Monitoring
Commission." Over on Slugger O'Toole some people accused me of "dancing
on her grave" which, frankly, I regarded as over the top given that my
next sentence read "however anyone who knows the East Belfast MLA will
recognise that she has a firm committment to her left wing unionist
principles, and for her to take this decisive action points to something
more than a temporary tactic."
But since I posted this it has been pointed out to me that when Dawn
Purvis stood down, the PUP lost its party allowance with immediate
effect. This is the money which the IMC could potentially target, rather
than Ms Purvis's individual travel, staff wages and office costs as a
constituency MLA. So her resignation effectively pre-empted any IMC
action by ending that source of funding and therefore can't be
interpreted as a protective measure, preventing any future sanction. I
wouldn't want anyone to be misinformed to the contrary by my original
post.
I'm 
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