Long – Alleged ‘nutter’ insult is fairly tame by Castlereagh Council standards

Following the controversy at the OFMdFM Committee on Wednesday, when it was reported that the UUP Leader Mike Nesbitt alleged that the DUP’s Jimmy Spratt called those who object to the Maze peace building centre ‘nutters’, Alliance Castlereagh Councillor Michael Long stated that even if the allegations were true then the language used was fairly tame in comparison with comments made by the DUP MLA at Castlereagh Borough Council.

Cllr Michael Long said: “As a regular target for Jimmy Spratt’s ire in Castlereagh Borough Council and having been described as ‘scum’,’a bigot’, ‘liar’ and ‘despised’ in recent months by the Alderman, if he described people as ‘nutters’ that would be fairly tame by Castlereagh Council standards.

“I have no idea who said what and about whom at the Assembly, but as a regular recipient of negative comments in Castlereagh, I would have to say that it is important that all elected representatives speak in respectful terms even when we disagree. Over the past dozen years, I have regularly witnessed insulting language in the Council chamber and I think it is about time that people concentrated on the issues rather than indulging in name calling.

“The Alliance group recently proposed that meetings at Castlereagh would be recorded to help provide more transparency with regards to the language used, but the DUP and UUP opposed this measure to increase scrutiny and encourage more constructive debates.”

ENDS