Justice minister Naomi Long stalls on Alliance Party demands for 'full public inquiry' into PSNI surveillance of journalists
Stormont’s justice minister has said it would be “premature to comment” on whether she will accept demands from within her own party for a public inquiry into the PSNI’s handling of journalists’ data.
Naomi Long’s comments come after the UUP’s Jon Burrows said the Alliance leader faced a choice between accepting the findings of the McCullough Review or backing calls from party colleagues for a public inquiry into the matter.
Mr Burrows also accused the Alliance Party of joining a “misleading narrative” propagated by Sinn Fein over the findings of the review – and joining in on “anti-police” commentary.
Mrs Long’s party representative on the Policing Board Nuala McAllister has called for a “full public inquiry” – but her leader has said she will wait for the outcome of an ongoing report and for the board to make its view clear.
In a statement to the News Letter, the justice minister said: “It is clear that whilst the McCullough Review found no systemic surveillance of journalists, nevertheless it was not a clean bill of health, with a number of findings of poor practice.
“This is not only a matter of operational policing for which the Chief Constable is accountable to the Northern Ireland Policing Board, but the Board have stated that they view this as fulfilling their duties under Section 59 of the Act.
“As such, the Board has made clear it wishes to carefully review the findings of the McCullough Review, and to receive a formal response from the Chief Constable on remedial action and plans for implementing the recommendations, before deciding on next steps. I believe that it is important that the Board is given the time and space to fully consider the report and its preferred way forward.
“As I have said previously, I share the serious concerns which have been expressed by the Board in relation to this issue and stand ready to support the Board in whatever actions it considers necessary. Furthermore, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal has yet to report, after which a further update to McCullough will be made.
“Ahead of the Tribunal findings and the Board’s considerations, it would be premature to comment on what actions may be required on my part.”