Doug Beattie MC MLA, said, “The importance of the Northern Ireland Commissioner on Standards cannot be overstated. Yet the commissioner works in an environment that is dominated by the major political parties, allowing elected representatives a degree of latitude in upholding any complaint based purely on party affiliations.

“A previous Commissioner, Douglas Bain CBE, recommended that there should be lay members added to the committee with voting rights. This was later outlined as an action point in the New Decade New Approach deal that restored devolved government in 2020. Further reference can be found in the 2022 Committee for Standards report. Yet, over 5 years on, nothing has been done to make the committee's decision-making more robust.

“To put this in context, the House of Commons Committee on Standards has a mechanism to ensure there is no bias by having an equal number of lay members on the committee as there are MPs. In this case, 7 lay members and 7 MPs make it far more accountable than what we have in Northern Ireland.

“As the Assembly votes in a new commissioner, it is important not to forget the words of the outgoing commissioner, Dr Melissa McCullough. She was scathing of the limitations placed on her, which prevented her from investigating MLAs who bring the Assembly into disrepute unless their actions are linked to their role as an MLA. This needs to be fundamentally changed, and the actions of MLAs, be they linked to their role or not, should be investigated if they bring the Assembly into disrepute.

“However, this is not likely to change for one simple reason. Eulogising terrorists and terrorist organisations would be seen as bringing the Assembly into disrepute, and the First Minister, who leads our power-sharing government, would be investigated weekly, as would many members of her party. 

“Nobody should forget that when the now First Minister and so many of her colleagues defied COVID guidance, it was decided that there was no case to answer, despite the blindingly obvious.

“So, keeping the status quo on standards and privileges, making sure no lay members are allowed on the committee, feeds into the heart of why nothing ever changes here.”