Kilclooney's tweet complaints rejected

At the time, UUP MLA Mike Nesbitt described it as “a racist comment”.

Five complaints were made to the House of Lords commissioner for standards, however it has concluded it does not fall under the remit of what it can investigate. It considered the complaint as part of an “initial assessment”, but dismissed it without opening a formal investigation. “A member’s opinion, or the way they express themselves, does not fall within the scope of the code,” it added.

SDLP MLA John Dallat said the verdict “raises many questions” including what does a peer “need to do to merit investigation?” Lord Kilclooney said: “It was as expected - the complaints weren’t well-founded.”