Member's statement: First Minister
Member's statement by Mr Gary Middleton on .
- MLA
- Mr Gary Middleton
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 16 September 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- First Minister
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5110868
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Last week, I raised in the Chamber the disgraceful decision taken by councillors in Londonderry and Strabane council. They decided that the army and the armed forces were not welcome at the Foyle Arena for a jobs fair at the council premises. That, of course, was blatant discrimination and bigotry: a shameful act towards those who wanted to apply for jobs and to engage with representatives from those sectors. People from across the community of all political persuasions have reached out to my office to share in the frustration and disappointment at the position taken by the council.
Of course, matters could only be made worse by the self-styled "First Minister for all". After concerns were raised by the DUP leader, Gavin Robinson, the First Minister for all told him to "butt out". The First Minister for all telling the leader of the largest unionist party to "butt out" will be a surprise to some, but, sadly, it is not a surprise to people on these Benches. When we hear the words "butt out", many know that it also means "Brits out" because of the actions of Sinn Féin and their SDLP colleagues across our local government — no respect, no understanding and, indeed, no thought for their unionist neighbours. We see not only the rewriting of history but the rewriting of the present. That is what we have now come to expect from the First Minister for all: offended by everything, ashamed of nothing; happy to attend the commemoration and glorification of republican terrorists but unwilling to allow their unionist neighbours to seek job opportunities in the armed forces; happy to go after our armed forces and those who sought to protect our communities but telling us that there was "no alternative" to IRA violence; a First Minister who seeks to make the rules but is happy not to apply them to herself; happy to meet those who share her political outlook but unwilling to meet the president of the United States; a First Minister who talks about equality but belongs to a party that seeks to "break the b—s" through it. That is a First Minister who is fooling absolutely no one. There is always an alternative. It is time to show leadership, accept that the idea of a new Ireland is in absolute tatters. Unionism is not butting out; unionism is not going away.
397 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations
Jev’s structured answers met every documented threshold for a qualifying culture-war activity.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.91 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- Criteria met: Identity framing (0.96); Sectarian or communal antagonism (0.73); Cultural grievance politics (0.81); Dog-whistle messaging (0.91); Controversy escalation (0.82).
- The text adopts the identity-based framing in its own voice (0.97).
- Subject area: Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations.
- The text adopts an antagonistic or dog-whistle framing, which qualifies even alongside legitimate scrutiny.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.96 | Yes |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.73 | Yes |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.81 | Yes |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.91 | Yes |
| Controversy escalation | 0.82 | Yes |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.12 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.91 | Above qualifying threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.03 |
| Adopts it (chosen) | 0.97 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.89 |
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.08 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.03 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:12 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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