Gavin Robinson says Carla Lockhart ‘on same page’ over Drumcree Stormont row
The DUP leader said: ‘If unionism has learned anything, it’s not to follow blindly down an alley by somebody that doesn’t know where they are going.’
DUP leader Gavin Robinson has insisted he is “on the same page” as one of the party’s senior MPs who has repeated calls for him to pull the deputy First Minister from her role.
DUP MP Carla Lockhart has said Emma Little-Pengelly should step down from the Executive office to force the removal of First Minister Michelle O’Neill over her attendance at protests against an Orange Order march.
Mr Robinson has rejected calls to withdraw the deputy First Minister but said it cannot be “business as usual” at Stormont in wake of the Drumcree dispute.
Ms O’Neill is one of a number of elected representatives who attended demonstrations on the largely nationalist Garvaghy Road over the course of a nearly two-week long stand off that emerged when the Parades Commission granted permission for the contentious march for the first time in 30 years.
Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant stepped in to ban the Orange Order march from passing along the Garvaghy Road, after a request from PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher to review the Parades Commission determination.
Ms Lockhart, the MP for the constituency where the Drumcree parade is situated, has been one of the DUPs most prominent voices on the dispute, regularly standing with the Orangemen in Portadown and speaking at rallies.
She wrote in a social media post on Sunday evening that “unionist anger cannot simply be brushed aside” and pledged to “continue to make the case that lawbreaking must have political consequences”.
“As I have always said, we have within our armoury the ability to do that while allowing the Assembly to continue,” she said.
“Those responsible should face the consequences, without punishing the people who rely on our public services.”
She added: “I’ve found somewhat bemusing how it has been presented as if I, as a woman in public life, cannot think for myself, and that there must be a man behind me pulling the strings.
“This is utter nonsense. I make up my own mind, no one pulls my strings.”
Asked by reporters at Stormont on Monday, if it was “embarrassing” for the party to have an MP publicly at odds with his position, Mr Robinson said he stands over “Carla’s ability to speak on these issues”.
“She’s in the middle of it. She’s in the maelstrom, and it’s right that she does so,” he said.
“The Democratic Unionist Party decides what our policy is.
“She, and we, are on the same page that there needs to be consequences for those who break the law, not for everybody else.”
He added: “We’re not going to afflict pain or suffering on the other law-abiding citizens of Northern Ireland, even some who disagree with us who play by the rules, there has to be consequence for the rule-breakers.”
Under reforms introduced in 2022, the resignation of a deputy First Minister would not immediately bring down the wider Executive, with parties having up to 24 weeks to agree replacements before an Assembly election would be triggered.
TUV leader Jim Allister also called for the DUP to remove Ms Little-Pengelly, saying if the party “look the other way on this issue” then they have “lost any semblance of any moral cause”.
Mr Robinson said Mr Allister is “content that three other law-breaking ministers stay in post”, referring to Sinn Féin ministers John O’Dowd, Caoimhe Archibald and Liz Kimmins who were all in attendance at protests on the Garvaghy Road.
The DUP leader added: “The next question: What comes next? What’s the plan?
“If unionism has learned anything, it’s not to follow blindly down an alley by somebody that doesn’t know where they are going.
“We’ll stand up for what’s right in Northern Ireland, for making Northern Ireland work, Sinn Féin wants to destroy it, and perhaps Jim Allister wants to assist them in their quest of destroying Northern Ireland and its place within the United Kingdom.
“You’ll not get that from us.”