Justice Minister's political interference in policing
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Justice Minister's political interference in policing
On 4th February 2026, the Ulster Unionist Party Press office inadvertently used the PSNI logo to accompany a press release from Doug Beattie MC MLA about a data release from the Courts and Tribunal service. The PSNI contacted the party, and the logo was, rightly, removed at the earliest opportunity.
It has now come to light, through two separate FOI responses from the PSNI; one with names redacted and another showing the names, that Naomi Long MLA contacted the police via WhatsApp Messenger, using either a private or departmental phone, to complain about the use of the PSNI logo. This is despite the fact that her own party has used the logo on multiple occasions.
Not only did she raise the issue with the PSNI to highlight the Ulster Unionist Party’s use of the logo and encourage the police to intervene, but she also used the exchange to make comments intended to undermine the character of the Ulster Unionist Party leader.
Was Naomi Long acting as the Minister, who was the subject of criticism in the original post by the Ulster Unionist Justice Spokesperson, or was she acting as the leader of the Alliance Party. Whichever it was this was clear political interference in the PSNI operational independence. It was an attempt to influence the actions of the police to a stage that she suggested the police need to challenge the party on the social media platform. This was completely inappropriate and not in keeping with the position the Minister continuously uses regarding police operational independence.
This is not an issue for the police; this is an issue for politicians who think they have a free hand to influence a police service for political reasons; in this case when another political party was being critical of the Minister and her department. It must also be added that if our Justice Minister is using a messenger application to talk about operational matters with the police on this issue what else is she using an insecure phone application for. Will the Minister take steps to ensure all such messaging is retained if it is on a personal phone? It is important that the Minister comes before the assembly to explain why she believes she has the authority to use the police in this manner when faced with political criticism and by doing so bring the police into the blast radius through her mistakes. The WhatsApp messages we have uncovered are deeply concerning and the attack on the character of our party leader in communications with the PSNI is both inappropriate and unprofessional.