Ben Lowry: If local government commissioners do not understand something as elementary as free speech and democracy, then they need named

In a ridiculous finding, she suspended a DUP councillor for comments about gay activists and Hamas. Richard Kennedy told in Ards and North Down Borough Council in 2023: "Do not be surprised when those who enthusiastically endorse the LGBTQIA alphabet soup agenda in the West are the very same people who are now seeking to defend Hamas."

Mr Kennedy’s comment was sweeping yet it is fair to note that activists who wear stickers or T-shirts such as ‘Gays for Gaza’ or ‘Queers for Palestine’ seem unaware that Hamas are savagely anti-gay. I recall, years before the 2023 October 7 massacres, the ex Catholic unitarian minister Rev Chris Hudson making this point more cleverly when he slapped down an anti-Israeli gay activist, saying: “You try your luck with a gay pride march in Gaza. I’ll try the long established one in Tel Aviv.” (his point was that Gaza has no such march and anyone who organised one might be killed by the Islamic fanatic rulers of the region, unlike liberal Israelis who have had gay celebrations for decades).

Ms Kelly’s ruling was so so absurd that we said in a News Letter editorial that it was she who should be suspended from her post, for seemingly not knowing the first thing about free speech (click her to read that editorial).

Two other former commissioners for standards in local government deserve to be named for disproportionate rulings, Katrin Shaw and Ian Gordon .

In 2022, the then acting commissioner Ms Shaw suspended a DUP councillor Marc Collins for a message on the web platform Twitter saying that the Sinn Fein MP John Finucane "supports and promotes the IRA" and that he "isn't innocent".

It was outrageous of Mr Collins to say that Mr Finucane was not “innocent” when he is an obviously legitimate politician, innocent of wrongdoing. It was even wrong of Mr Collins to say that John Finucane “promotes” the IRA. But the question of whether he supports the former IRA campaign is, I believe, open. The party he represents was inextricably linked to the long Provisional IRA campaign and it strongly defends the IRA’s right to use violence in the Troubles. Mr Finucane was asked if he condemns that past campaign during his 2019 Westminster election campaign, and as far as I am aware he has not. If I am wrong, we will give him space in this paper to say so.

So while Ms Shaw was right that Mr Collins crossed the boundary "of proper political debate” she should know that such bounds are crossed in politics daily, not least in the mother of all parliaments, the House of Commons to which Mr Finucane is elected (but which his party snubs). We cannot in a democracy penalise ill-judged remarks.

In 2022, yet another DUP councillor was suspended, for saying that the then deputy leader of Sinn Fein Michelle O'Neill would be "put back in her kennel". This time the commissioner was Mr Gordon, who found that John Carson had breached the councillor code of conduct. The Mid and East Antrim councillor had on Facebook retracted the comment and apologised. His comments were obviously offensive but did not in my view merit the draconian step of suspension.

Mr Gordon suspended yet another DUP councillor last year, who wrongly said a childrens’ GAA tournament was named after an IRA hunger striker. Clement Cuthbertson, of Mid Ulster District Council, had criticised an event which was in fact named after a former chair of the club. This is a more problematic case, because Mr Cuthbertson’s Facebook post was indeed "inaccurate, unacceptable and offensive" and it would have been appropriate to order him to retract the comment and apologise to the family of the chair (he had deleted the post). But his further comment that the GAA does “idolise convicted terrorists" is reasonable because some grounds and some events are named after IRA men. Mr Cuthbertson’s refusal to apologise to the family makes his case least deserving of sympathy, but it is still debatable if suspension was proportionate. He co-operated with the probe.

Regarding Mr Kennedy’s suspension by Ms Kelly last week, Lord (Toby) Young of the Free Speech Union (FSU) told this newspaper that it clearly contradicts his right to free speech. I am on the Northern Ireland advisory board of the FSU but have not discussed the case with Lord Young. I don’t need to – he is patently right.

Are unionists more likely to fall foul of these rulings? We live in a society in which elected Irish republicans openly laud former murderers and in which Gerry Carroll MLA tweeted out ‘Victory to the Palestinian Resistance’ as October 7 was unfolding in Israel. Such comments never seem to attract censure, let alone suspension.

• Ben Lowry (@Benlowry2) is News Letter editor