Below is the speech by TUV leader Jim Allister during last night’s debate on a report criticising Sammy Wilson for calling him a thug:
“I do not quibble at all with the rough and tumble of politics. I am probably one who gives as good as he gets, but I will say that, when a remark is made that conveys that I am of a criminal and violent tendency, I do object. I have encountered in my professional life enough thugs to know what the word means, and it is not a pleasant word. When it is said in a gratuitous way and, according to the commissioner, in an untruthful way, because of lack of belief by he who speaks it that it is true, it makes the matter worse.
“Sammy Wilson is better than this. He is a very able parliamentarian. He is eloquent, effective and persuasive, but, making the remark that he made, I think, says more, sadly, about him than it does about me. Why did he stoop so low on that occasion? I think that the answer lies in the fact that it was, on his part, a concerted and perhaps predetermined attempt to sabotage the Committee because the evasive, scheming Mr Brimstone had been flushed out. He was caught in the headlights of truth. He had nowhere to go, and, on cue, in comes Mr Wilson to divert and to save the day and to secure the abandonment of the Committee. It was not the first time that it had happened. It happened on an occasion when Mr McCausland was there. The same tactic, or a similar tactic, was deployed on that occasion. That was the nature, the purpose and the motivation, I believe, of what happened on that occasion.
“In those circumstances, saying something that he did not believe, it seems, and, therefore, something untruthful, one might have thought that he might have been man enough to face up to that and to apologise, and an apology would have been perfectly acceptable to me — [Interruption.]
— but, of course, the DUP does not do sorry. It is never wrong. It is in its DNA — [Interruption.]
— that it is never wrong. Indeed, some of them will recognise which DUP grandee this phrase came from, but they work on the premise, “You never admit you are wrong because it is a sign of weakness”. To me, it can be a sign of strength, but, within the DNA pool, sadly, of most in the DUP, that is the belief. You never admit that you are wrong because it is a sign of weakness. That is why, on this occasion, there has been the inability to face up to this matter and, instead, there has been all sorts of abuse poured on Mr Bain, and I join others in offering my condolences to him. “Mr Bain was introduced to this House with a speech from a DUP man Mr Alastair Ross. On his appointment, Mr Ross told us that he would make an excellent commissioner, meeting the demands for skill, wisdom and judgement. [Interruption.]
Mrs D Kelly: Will the Member give way?
Mr Allister: Yes.
Mrs D Kelly: Will the Member also acknowledge that the reason — [Interruption.]
— why I lodged my complaint — [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker: Order. [Interruption.]
Mrs D Kelly — was to stand up for standards of decency and good behaviour in this House?
Mr Speaker: Order. I did not hear a single word of what Mrs Kelly just said. I will give you the opportunity to repeat it. Use the mic if necessary. I want order on this side of the House so that we can all hear. This is meant to be a debate, and people are meant to listen as well as speak.
Mrs D Kelly: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I was just asking Mr Allister whether he agreed that the rationale behind my complaint was to stand up for decency; it was not to be a defender of Jim Allister of the TUV.
Mr Speaker: The Member has an extra minute.
Mr Allister: I confirm that I had no knowledge that Mrs Kelly was making a complaint, nor did I ask anyone to make a complaint. She did what she did because she thought what happened was wrong, and I respect her for that.
“Faced with this legitimate criticism, what does the DUP do? In the most wimpish of actions, they run round to the Business Office with a petition of concern, another human shield for Sammy Wilson. How pathetic. Instead of being men and facing up to the criticism and the facts, they run like wimps to the Business Office.”