Debate contribution: Timothy Gaston MLA: Committee on Standards and Privileges Report

Debate contribution by Mr Gerry Carroll on 2 February 2026.

MLA

Mr Gerry Carroll

Party at the time

People Before Profit Alliance

Date

2 February 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Committee Business

Heading

Timothy Gaston MLA: Committee on Standards and Privileges Report

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5356899

Read the official Assembly record

Text

There are many things that Timothy Gaston and many Members across the Chamber should be sanctioned for in my view and, no doubt, that of many other people. The Member for North Antrim stands up regularly and blames migrants for pressures on housing, healthcare and schools, while ignoring decades of austerity and obscene inequality; indeed, he regularly attacks trans people and talks about "transgender madness". That is a relentless undermining of trans people's right to dignity and safety, and I say that those are "unreasonable" and "excessive" comments, to use the language of the standards commissioner. Those attacks on marginalised groups deserve condemnation. MLAs and, indeed, Ministers in the House should absolutely face consequences for stoking up division and hate against oppressed people. Unfortunately, all too often, they do not. So-called improper behaviour towards Committee Chairs and Ministers is a different matter. The comments that Mr Gaston made were condescending and patronising without a doubt. He called them "ill-judged". I agree with, I think, the Member for North Antrim that Mr Gaston should publicly apologise to the Chair of the Committee for his comments. However, when it comes to further sanctions, I have serious concerns that the standards are being weaponised to silence dissent and criticism of those in power from somebody whom I have more disagreements with than anybody else in the House. Challenging a Committee Chair is not unreasonable or excessive. It is part of our democratic duty, especially as opposition MLAs, and kicking MLAs out of the Assembly for so-called improper conduct sets a dangerous precedent. Executive parties and even the so-called official Opposition, who are frequently aligned with the Executive on fundamental questions, may be tempted to exclude smaller parties from the Assembly for challenging powerful witnesses in the future; I could obviously be subjected to that. That will have an unacceptably chilling effect on holding the Executive to account. I have sat in Committee meetings where working-class communities' concerns about healthcare, privatisation or unethical investment have been dismissed as "out of scope" or "inappropriate". That is the wrong approach for any Chair of any Committee to take. If we allow the sanction to stand without challenge, we are saying that the robust, persistent and maybe even annoying questioning of Ministers — the kind that makes them uncomfortable — can be punished with exclusion. That is wrong, and it is a dangerous path to take. We must defend the right to challenge power vigorously, even when we fundamentally disagree with the politics of those doing the challenging; otherwise, we are building a system where only polite, deferential scrutiny is tolerated. That serves nobody except those who benefit from the status quo. My party and I will not endorse that strategy today. I know that the Member for North Antrim is new to the job as party leader. Maybe he should take action against his party colleagues who regularly retweet, endorse and regurgitate the lines of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) if he has any concerns about violence.

501 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:22 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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