Castlederg councillor Derek Hussey suspended by UUP

THE UUP’s veteran Castlederg councillor, Derek Hussey, has been suspended from the party, it has emerged.

Mr Hussey had spoken out against the party’s decision to select former UFU president, Ian Marshall, as their candidate for the West Tyrone constituency in the upcoming NI Assembly elections.

Speaking to We Are Tyrone yesterday, the retired teacher revealed that UUP leader, Doug Beattie, suspended him before Christmas.

The selection of Mr Marshall caused a deep divide in the party locally, prompting the resignation of former councillor, Andy McKane.

Mr Hussey has also said that he has been referred to a party disciplinary committee over his comments on Mr Marshall’s selection.

The Derg councillor said he still stood by that statement, which, he said, had complete “approval and endorsement” from the West Tyrone UUP Constituency Association.

The publican claimed party leader, Mr Beattie, currently under-fire over a series of historical tweets, used his “sole authority” when granting the suspension.

Mr Hussey said, “My membership of the UUP was suspended at the end of last year by Doug Beattie himself, under his sole authority as party leader, following my criticism of the process and selection of a UUP candidate for West Tyrone and I was referred to a Party Disciplinary Committee.

“My statement was made with the approval and endorsement of our West Tyrone Constituency Association, and I stand by it.

“I and one other senior Association Officer have met with the Disciplinary Committee and expressed our sincere concerns at the issues which led to the issuing the of the original statement. We understand that these issues are now being considered and I still stand suspended.

“Doug Beattie now finds himself under scrutiny over totally inappropriate and demeaning comments made recently and, in the past. It will be interesting to see how this is dealt with.”

Doug Beattie has seen mounting pressure over his leadership of the UUP due to controversial comments he has made on social media. A number of the comments were of a misogynistic nature and Mr Beattie has apologized for them in a statement on social media platform Twitter

The UUP leader said, “Since I made my unreserved apology in relation to a tweet at the weekend I have been made aware of a number of historic tweets which I published.

“I am deeply ashamed and embarrassed by the content of these tweets. They are totally unacceptable. They do not reflect the opinions or values I hold today.

“That is where I stand and I deeply regret the fact that these historic tweets could serve to undermine that position.”