Simon Byrne’s response to criticism of South Armagh policing report underlines why he must quit

Simon Bryne has no intention of resigning, as he had none of going after the PSNI facilitated a mass social distancing breach at last year’s terrorist funeral.

Now he is saying he will still “make sure that policing across this country continues to improve”.

But this is misleading to the point of nonsense. No-one is criticising him for wanting policing to improve. He is being criticised for the chronic PSNI weakness around republicans.

Mr Byrne is also saying the report has been “lost in translation” and that “parts of [it] were ruled out from the get-go”. Meanwhile, confusing language is being deployed around the PSNI intention to downgrade memorials to murdered RUC.

The report is fundamentally flawed because of its genesis (apologising for a picture that merely reflected the terror threat in South Armagh); because of its inappropriate triggering of a new Irish language policy (which will be seized on by republicans for a wider rollout); because of its political plan to pave the way for some cross border policing (thus nibbling at the edge of constitutional matters); because of its premature reduction in the arming of PSNI based on a furore rather than threat; and because it floats the downgrading of memorials to murdered predecessors (as if they weren’t colleagues).

Mr Byrne previously endorsed then withdrew a police re-branding exercise that seemed to remove the NI part of PSNI. Where does this weak man get his advice?

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson’s article in this paper on Wednesday was appropriately blistering. But neither the DUP nor UUP are calling on Mr Byrne to go, having done so over the Storey funeral. This is a different sort of blunder by Mr Byrne, but in some respects worse, and added to the funeral debacle compounds his unsuitability.

Thus there is now even more reason for Mr Bryne to go than when those two parties called for it, and they should say so to prevent this saga blowing over.

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