Willie Hay accuses Chris Heaton-Harris of using power over the North in ‘very cavalier manner’

The DUP veteran was speaking in the British House of Lords in opposition to what he described as ‘hugely controversial’ regulations to make information on access to abortion a compulsory component of the curriculum for adolescents.

The former Derry mayor launched a blistering attack during a discussion of the Relationships and Sexuality Education (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 on Wednesday.

“It was said earlier that the Secretary of State has the power, and we would all agree that he has, but it is about how he uses that power. Over the while since he came to the Northern Ireland Office, he has used that power in a very cavalier manner.

"This is a Secretary of State who does not believe in any consensus whatever on many issues. He quotes the Belfast agreement on occasions around consensus, but right through that agreement, it calls for and talks about consensus. This Secretary of State, for whatever reason, does not seem to want to find consensus on any issue,” he said.

The DUP grandee claimed the minister needs to ‘rethink’ how he deals with the North.

"There is a litany of issues which we could name and look at where this Secretary of State, for whatever reason, seems to be able to get most people in Northern Ireland and all its political parties against him.

"He seems to be quite happy in doing that—and does it quite well. The Secretary of State needs to have a rethink in how he deals with Northern Ireland, especially on the issues there.

"Former Secretaries of State and people who know Northern Ireland well will tell him that the only way Northern Ireland will move forward is by consensus and not by having a cavalier attitude to issues such as this,” he stated.

Elizabeth Barker, a Liberal Democrat peer, rejected these claims: “Members talked about what the Government have come up with in response as being cavalier.

"It is not: it is careful and considered. It is an obligation on schools to provide information on sexual and reproductive health that is age-appropriate, comprehensive and scientifically accurate.”

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