Minister: Official offended by Royal portrait could give £10k to charity

By The Newsroom
Published 11th Sep 2019, 11:37 BST
Lord Maginnis criticised Sir Jonathan Stephens, above, saying that he recommended the paymentLord Maginnis criticised Sir Jonathan Stephens, above, saying that he recommended the payment
Lord Maginnis criticised Sir Jonathan Stephens, above, saying that he recommended the payment
A senior NIO civil servant alleged to have received £10,000 for being offended at a portrait of the Queen should consider giving the money to charity, an NIO minister has said.

The suggestion from Lord Duncan, the NIO’s minister in the House of Lords, came on Monday night after stinging criticism of the department’s most senior civil servant, Sir Jonathan Stephens, who was said to have recommended that the payment be made.

In July, Lord Maginnis told Parliament that portraits of the Queen, pictured, and the Duke of Edinburgh had been removed after NIO official Lee Hegarty complained about them and was paid “around £10,000”, with the situation having been “shrouded in secrecy”.

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Lord Maginnis said that the settlement “was signed off by the then secretary of state, Theresa Villiers MP, on the recommendation, I am informed, of her permanent secretary Jonathan Stephens”.

NIO minister Lord DuncanNIO minister Lord Duncan
NIO minister Lord Duncan

On Monday, Lord Maginnis returned to the issue, telling the House of Lords that Mr Hegarty, who is now the top civil servant in the Parades Commission, had been at the NIO’s London office – where there is also a portrait of the Queen – “for several years” without having been offended.