Edwin Poots says port staff not withdrawn for political reasons

Mid and East Antrim Council withdrew workers in February

Agriculture minister Edwin Poots has denied he withdrew port staff doing Brexit checks for political reasons.

Some physical checks were temporarily suspended following the appearance of intimidatory graffiti and allegations of threats to staff.

Police said there was no intelligence to indicate loyalist paramilitary involvement and any threat was low.

Mr Poots was giving evidence to a Stormont scrutiny committee about the February decision.

It was his final act as minister before stepping down for a short time for medical treatment.

Sinn Féin's Philip McGuigan put it to him that the threat had been exaggerated and he had pulled staff out to "get a particular outcome or create tension around the Irish protocol".

An example of the anti-Irish Sea border graffiti in Belfast

Mr Poots denied that and said there had been a "credible threat" at the time.

He cited the case of a staff member who'd had to move house under a government security scheme due to the level of threat against them.

Police had received a coded threat to the confidential Crimestoppers telephone line which had not been passed on to council officials looking after Belfast and Larne ports, he said.

And he claimed police on the ground had been communicating their concerns about the security situation, while senior officers did not seem to have the same feel for it.

• Why were Northern Ireland port checks suspended?

The minister said having spoken to police, MPs, councillors and Mid and East Antrim Council officials, he had come to the conclusion the department could not guarantee its staff security.

He accused the scrutiny committee of carrying out a "politically-motivated and politically-driven" inquiry.

Mr Poots said the withdrawal of staff for seven days had had no impact on food traceability or biosecurity.

He told assembly members it had been the appropriate thing to do while his department carried out its own risk assessment.