DUP reject Allister accusation of 'carve up' to keep him off Windsor Framework scrutiny committee

A TUV spokesman told the News Letter: “It would appear that the Protocol implementing parties in Stormont are combining to ensure that Jim Allister is excluded from the Windsor Framework Committee set up to scrutinise the continuing imposition of EU law.

“The behind closed doors carve up of places has been going on all week with a view to the Assembly approving the allocations on Monday. Jim Allister has from the outset made it plain the only committee he wished to serve on was the Windsor Framework committee.

“In their carve up the Protocol implementing parties offered the four MLAs outside their grouping the crumbs of what was left over, which met none of the preferences of these four members. No place was offered to anyone on the Windsor Framework committee outside the five Protocol implementing parties.

“As Mr Speaker chairs the Business Committee which oversees these matters, Jim Allister wrote to him making his position clear and calling for intervention in defence of minorities in the Assembly.”

Jim Allister said: “Even if the protocol implementers shut out of the scrutiny committee, they will not shut me down on the floor of the Assembly.”

The DUP’s David Brooks – vice chair of the Windsor Framework scrutiny committee said: “That’s nonsense. The SDLP has eight members and is not on it. This again shows the importance of strength in numbers and how individual members can’t secure the influence that a larger party can. It is significant that for a Committee that Jim dismissed, every party wanted on it including him as an independent which undermines his own argument.”

The body will be chaired by Sinn Fein’s Declan Kearney with the DUP’s David Brooks as vice-chair. The full committee membership is expected to be decided by Monday.