I was portrayed as instigator of delays by DUP: Crawford
A FORMER special adviser to Arlene Foster believes the DUP allowed him to be falsely named as the instigator of RHI cost control delays to protect the party’s current Chief Executive.
Dr Andrew Crawford, who has been recalled before the RHI Inquiry panel to clarify a number of matters, has stated in written evidence that he believes the party acquiesced to the naming of him by Dr Andrew McCormick during a Public Accounts Committee meeting in January 2017.
“At the very least I do not see any attempt to tell Dr McCormick that I had denied the allegation on numerous occasions, or that I had provided contemporaneous emails that supported my position,” he said.
Dr Crawford quit his role at Stormont following the senior civil servant’s claims that he exerted influence to keep the RHI scheme running at a high tariff level.
Prior to his resignation he had been openly critical of Mrs Foster’s Assembly address on December 19, 2016 which she used to dismiss allegations that someone in the party had sought to delay cost controls and insisted that any attempt to postpone changes lacked proper authority.
In correspondence issued to colleagues, Dr Crawford said they “are already aware of my views about the statement from Arlene”.
In his evidence he claims he felt the speech “was constructed in such a way that it allowed the interpretation” that he was involved “rather than conveying my strong denial of any involvement”.
Dr Crawford, who was working for the former enterprise minister at the time the RHI scheme was devised, also states that no one from the party approached him for an in-depth discussion or to ask for his version of events.
“I found this particularly upsetting,” he said.
Dr Crawford said he had raised concerns to all the “key players” including former Finance Minister Simon Hamilton and Mrs Foster herself following the statement she made as First Minister.
Dr McCormick previously provided evidence to the inquiry in which he claimed the DUP was “very concerned to deflect or discredit any possible reference to Timothy Johnston” and did not object to the naming of Dr Crawford as the instigator of delays to introducing tiered tariffs.
Dr Crawford said Dr McCormick named him based solely on “inaccurate” information obtained from Jonathan Bell’s special adviser, Timothy Cairns, which he said is not supported by objective evidence. “I did not seek the introduction of cost controls to be delayed,” he maintains.
He also claimed that all the evidence suggests that those within the DUP who were dealing with RHI in December 2015 were “not taking steps to contradict or dispel the narrative” and were “quick to defend” Mr Johnston, the current chief executive and former special adviser to three consecutive First Ministers.
“It may have been the case that I was viewed as expendable whereas Timothy Johnston was not,” he said.
Dr Crawford was also critical of Mr Cairns’ preoccupation with the risk of negative publicity to the department following criticism of a wind energy scheme (NIRO) in the context of his “poor relationship” with Mr Bell. “He was concerned that he could lose his position as special adviser if he wasn’t careful in how he handled these changes,” Dr Crawford stated.
However, he also stressed that he does not believe Mr Johnston sought to delay cost controls.
Dr Crawford had also been asked to clarify a text message exchange with his former colleague John Robinson which includes the sentence: “Assume you were told the same news tonight” to which the following reply was sent: “Yes. I’m sick of it. I’d be happy to go but I just look completely guilty.”
He said the message was sent after he resigned as special adviser to Michelle McIlveen during a meeting at Arlene Foster’s home on January 17, 2017.
Mr Crawford said “the same news” referred to Mr Robinson’s decision to quit as special adviser to then Economy Minister Simon Hamilton.