Poots ‘tired’ of senior aide saga and insists it’s up to PM to make decision over his position
EDWIN Poots has said it is up to the Prime Minister to make a decision on whether Dominic Cummings should keep his job.
The DUP Agriculture Minister yesterday refused to be drawn into the controversy surrounding the chief adviser’s alleged breaches of the coronavirus lockdown.
“It is a story that I am getting a little tired of,” Mr Poots told the BBC.
“That decision needs to be taken by Boris Johnson, and if he decides to keep Dominic Cummings, if it is based on his understanding of all the issues — and
I don’t have an understanding of — then he is in a better place to judge that than I am.”
Asked why the DUP did not sign a letter, signed by other
Northern Ireland political parties at Westminster, calling for the removal of Cummings, Mr Poots said: “We are not into trial by media.
“The people who are involved closely in that situation — that is the PM and the rest of the people around him — need to identify what happened, what was done wrong and whether that merits the sacking of Dominic Cummings. That is entirely a decision for that team, it is nothing to with us as a parliamentary party.”
Meanwhile he said it will be a “challenge” to control the number of people going to forest parks in Northern Ireland as they re-open.
He said rangers will be in the parks to ensure social distancing is enforced.
Mr Poots said he understood frustrations that lockdown was not being relaxed more quickly.
“We have been cautious and as a consequence we have the lowest number of deaths that there has been in the British Isles,” he said.
“I would view that in a positive light rather than a negative,” he added.
He said the Executive would look again at the lockdown today. There was a potential for the easing of restrictions considered for next week which would allow a further “bringing back of more normality”.