TUV MLA demands witness return to Stormont after ‘bastard’ remark row

TUV North Antrim MLA Timothy Gaston

A heated row over comments made during a Stormont committee session on race relations has escalated after TUV North Antrim MLA Timothy Gaston used Assembly proceedings to demand that a publicly funded community representative be compelled to return before the committee “and learn some manners”.

Speaking in the Assembly on Monday, June 1, Mr Gaston sharply criticised evidence given during a recent meeting of the Committee for the Executive Office, where members heard testimony as part of its ongoing evidence-gathering process into a race relations strategy.

The North Antrim MLA claimed the session became politically charged and accused some contributors of showing “contempt” towards views held by large sections of the public across the United Kingdom.

Stormont committee session sparks political backlash

Mr Gaston told the Assembly that two separate panels had appeared before the committee last Wednesday and said members from both panels presented “highly political” evidence.

He singled out comments made by Daniel Holder, director of the Committee on the Administration of Justice, during the second panel discussion.

According to Mr Gaston, Mr Holder “made the outrageous statement that Northern Ireland needs to make contingency plans for the possibility of a Reform UK Government” and “branded the party leading the polls in the United Kingdom as far right”.

The TUV MLA said those remarks showed “such contempt for the views of millions of people right across our United Kingdom and, indeed, tens of thousands in this part of our UK”.

Mr Gaston added that the comments had been “rightly challenged and called out” by himself and other committee members during the session.

Focus turns to microphone comment during first panel

However, the strongest criticism from the North Antrim representative centred on comments allegedly made during the committee’s first panel session.

Addressing MLAs in the chamber, Mr Gaston said:

“I apologise to the House for using these terms, but Fidelma Fearon from Minority Ethnic Support Armagh was clearly picked up on the mic as saying:

‘They are lucky that I did not get stuck into the bastard properly.’”

Mr Gaston referenced a biblical passage during his speech, telling the Assembly:

“The Bible tells us: ‘for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.’

“In Wednesday’s Committee, we had an example of that attitude of the heart coming to the surface through what was said, and I put it on record here today.”

The remarks have since generated significant reaction online, with the MLA claiming the public had already “had their say in the court of appeal that is social media”.

Call for Assembly rules change over ‘contempt’

Mr Gaston also used his contribution to raise concerns over what he described as a gap in Stormont’s procedures regarding conduct towards elected representatives.

He said that while the House of Commons categorises verbal abuse of MPs as a contempt of Parliament, Stormont’s Standing Orders “oddly make no mention of contempt of the Assembly”.

The North Antrim MLA said:

“Something needs to be done urgently to address that serious defect.”

He further highlighted that Minority Ethnic Support Armagh receives public funding, including support from The Executive Office.

“Ms Fearon’s group is in receipt of tens of thousands of pounds of public funding, including generous sums from the Executive Office, and it was a member of the Executive Office Committee whom she decided to abuse,” he said.

Mr Gaston then called for further action by the committee, referencing powers available to the Assembly under Section 45 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

“We know that, under section 45 of the 1998 Act, the Assembly has the power to compel witnesses to attend.

“Ms Fearon should be required to re-attend the Committee and learn some manners.”

Wider political tensions around race relations debate

The controversy comes amid increasingly tense political debate surrounding immigration, race relations policy and the rise of Reform UK in opinion polling across Britain.

Stormont committees routinely hear evidence from campaign groups, charities, academics and advocacy organisations as part of policy development and scrutiny work. However, exchanges during recent evidence sessions have increasingly spilled into wider political disputes beyond the committee room itself.

The latest dispute is likely to intensify scrutiny around conduct during Assembly committee hearings and could fuel further debate over how Stormont handles politically contentious evidence sessions involving publicly funded organisations.