Statement by TUV Leader Jim Allister:-
“Tonight’s BBC Spotlight programme was a damming indictment of the DUP and its practice of abuse of power.
“Any self respecting DUP member should be outraged at how their own councillor, Jenny Palmer, was treated. Both Nelson McCausland and his SPAD, who represents him, should resign.
“Ministers are under a statutory duty (S 28 of NI Act 1998) to act in accordance with the Ministerial Code of Conduct which requires them at all times to “observe the highest standards of propriety”. What objective viewers of this programme could conclude Minister McCausland has so acted?Likewise his SPAD. So both should go and would have to if this was an accountable democracy.
“Coming on the heels of the DUP’s power grab of planning powers, this programme revealed further disturbing evidence of the party’s unhealthy links with particular business interests.
“This is now not just an issue about Redsky but also about why and how Nelson McCausland came to halt the double glazing contract after a meeting with a DUP supporting vested interest. This is all shocking stuff.
“The First Minister and his party, instead of angrily blaming a media conspiracy, need to face up to the revelations of the Spotlight investigation and the culture which they have cultivated. They need to come clean.
“With the dominant party in the Stormont regime implicated, it is clear no local investigation will suffice. I am, therefore, calling on the Secretary of State to step in and oversee suitable inquiry. There is a fundamental issue of public confidence here which must be addressed.”
