‘When an MLA can be pushed around like this, you wonder what kind of spine she has’

Ms Bradshaw initially defended her decision to fly to Italy for the holiday but, following a bruising radio interview with the BBC’s Stephen Nolan, she later announced she would not go ahead with the trip if Stormont’s guidelines on international travel don’t change.

The DUP MP Sammy Wilson said she had been “pushed around” and suggested she was “sufficiently capable” of deciding for herself whether or not it is safe or responsible to go ahead with her foreign holiday.

“When you’ve got a public representative who can be pushed around like that, you’ve got to question what kind of spine she has,” he said.

“I don’t feel sorry for her at all. Surely to goodness she is sufficiently capable of making the decision of where she wants to go on her holidays without being pushed around by some BBC presenter or ill-thought out advice from the Department of Health.

“She was not breaking the law. She was simply taking the guidance that was available to her, weighing it up against her own circumstances, and deciding ‘I want to go on my holidays’.”

The Alliance Party declined an opportunity to respond to Mr Wilson’s claim.

Speaking a few hours after her appearance on the Nolan Show, Ms Bradshaw said: “Like many people, I have a holiday booked – in my case to Italy.

“I should be clear when I said I would operate within the guidance; that obviously includes not travelling if the regulations and guidance at the time state I should not do so. That is currently the case.”

She stressed that public representatives must abide by the guidelines, saying: “It is important everyone, particularly in representative roles, adheres both to the spirit and letter of that guidance.”