Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:-
“I am astounded by the audacity of the First Ministers in purporting to use ‘prerogative powers’ to arbitrarily amend legislation to give themselves power to make a civil service appointment which circumvents the application of ‘the merit principle’ so that they can have a hand-picked spin doctor to add to the legions of press officers already in place.
“This, in my view, is a brazen abuse of power.
“The First Ministers in purporting to use prerogative powers to decree amendment to legislation, the Civil Service Commissioners NI Order 1999, are flagrantly breaching due process. They have purported to amend the 1999 Order to add a power for themselves to make the subject appointment.
“S 23(3) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 bestows the Royal prerogative powers in respect of the NI Civil Service on the First Ministers, but to then purport to use those powers to amend legislation to gift themselves a power of appointment not anticipated in that legislation, seems to me to be an abuse of power and process.
“How many spin doctors does Stormont need? They already have 161. How ironic that the latest appointee is the very person who hitherto would have railed against and exposed the contrived process by which he was appointed.”