Smith sacked ‘over risk of Troubles prosecutions’

JULIAN SMITH was sacked as Northern Ireland secretary amid claims that he left Boris Johnson blindsided over a risk of more prosecutions to veterans as a result of the Stormont power-sharing deal.

Mr Smith was fired yesterday in Mr Johnson’s reshuffle, to be replaced by Brandon Lewis, the security minister.

Downing Street reportedly felt left out of the loop over the terms of the deal Mr Smith negotiated last month, which led to the Assembly functioning again after a three-year suspension.

The Prime Minister was reportedly angered that the deal included an investigation into alleged crimes by British soldiers during the Troubles.

One MP said the talk in the tea room was that Mr Smith soured relations with No10 after he went “behind their backs” on victims’ compensation when he “lost the argument internally”. The source said: “They never forgave him.”

His allies said they were shocked at the decision to dismiss him.

Those close to Mr Smith insisted that No 10 and the Prime Minister had been kept fully informed about the terms of the Stormont arrangement.

“There was a write-round of Cabinet ministers,” a source said, pointing out that Mr Smith travelled back from Belfast on Jan 6 to personally brief Mr Johnson. Memos were sent back and forth between Mr Smith’s team and No10 and it was “absolute c---” to suggest they had been blindsided.

Friends claimed the real reason for his sacking was because No10 “felt that he was not sufficiently loyal on Brexit – it was very clear that he had not agreed with the decision on prorogation”. No 10 blamed veterans’ prosecutions because No 10 “does not want to say it is Brexit-related because we are moving on from that”, they claimed.

Mr Smith said serving Northern Ireland’s people had been “the biggest privilege”. He thanked Mr Johnson “for giving me the chance to serve this amazing part of our country”.

Leo Varadkar, the Irish premier, said: “In eight months as secretary of state, Julian, you helped to restore power-sharing in Stormont, secured an agreement with us to avoid a hard border, plus marriage equality. You are one of Britain’s finest politicians of our time.”