The FDA has condemned the former agriculture minister for Northern Ireland, Edwin Poots.
Poots was taken to court over his handling of the order given to his department to stop all Irish Sea border checks under the Northern Ireland Protocol. The judge, Mr Justice Colton, said that “it would appear that the minister’s instruction was motivated by political rather than legal considerations”.
The judgement, released in full last week, stated Poots’s decision “was an overtly political one, taken for political reasons and as part of the political campaign”.
Dave Penman, General Secretary of the FDA told the Belfast Telegraph “the judgement makes clear, Edwin Poots acted in complete contravention of his obligations as a minister to uphold the rule of law”.
By ignoring these obligations, continued Penman, Poots wrongly politicised the civil service. “He failed in his responsibility to ensure that civil servants never face the dilemma of whether to act on ministerial instruction or uphold the rule of law”, argued Penman. “The impartiality and integrity of the civil service needs to be protected by ministers, and his failure to do so has also opened up accusations of political bias, which has such serious consequences in the context of the volatile political situation in Northern Ireland.”
Penman warned all ministers to never underestimate the importance of the rule of law and independence of the civil service:
Yesterday, FDA staff and reps attended the 2026 Fast Stream annual Base Camp, welcoming this year’s new joiners to the scheme and sharing the benefits of FDA membership with them.
The FDA’s National Officer for Northern Ireland Robert Murtagh has written to Speaker of the Assembly, Edwin Poots, asking him to remind MLAs that when officials appear before the Assembly, impartiality must not be brought into question.
If Prime Minister Andy Burnham wants a different political culture, he needs to start with the Ministerial Code says Dave Penman.
