THE DUP yesterday demanded Karen Bradley is sacked as Northern Ireland Secretary – saying she had “failed” in the job.
Ms Bradley sparked outrage last week when she said killings by soldiers during The Troubles were “not crimes”.
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She has previously been mocked for saying she did not realise that nationalists in Northern Ireland never voted for unionist parties.
Nigel Dodds, deputy leader of the DUP – who are propping the Tories up in No10 – called for her to go.
Speaking to The House magazine, Mr Dodds savaged the Cabinet Minister for failing to get to grips with her brief.
He said: “Karen obviously has had her problems and difficulties, there’s no doubt about that.
‘FLAWED POLICY’
“The Northern Ireland Office has been, in our view, a dysfunctional department for quite a time. It needs strong leadership, there’s no doubt about that.
“I think that Karen has, perhaps, not been as out there in terms of getting across the people in Northern Ireland, talking to them, meeting with groups, and all the rest of it as some of her predecessors.
“I know that, however, Brexit and the votes here has meant that maybe she hasn’t had as much time. But her basic policy approach has been flawed in the sense that she has decided that Northern Ireland could just stand still, leave it to the civil servants.
“That’s a glaring failure on her part. She has not taken a grip and shown the leadership that she should have.”
He called for Ms Bradley – and much of the Cabinet – to go.
He said: “I think the Government needs to have a change of leadership in a number of departments, yes, across the board.”
Reuters
