Sammy Wilson 'hark the herald angels ping' tweet branded 'moronic'

Sammy Wilson has been involved in controversy before over tweets about Covid rules

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Sammy Wilson has been criticised for a tweet about new Covid-19 rules in Northern Ireland.

Mr Wilson wrote: "Hark the herald angels ping, [Health Minister] Robin Swann won't let us do a thing."

Mr Swann's party leader Doug Beattie said the tweet was "juvenile, pathetic and moronic".

DUP First Minister Paul Givan said Mr Wilson could "speak for himself" on the matter.

Mr Wilson's tweet continued: "No more parties, work at home. In the streets you cannot roam

"Omni is far worse than the delta curse. Stay at home or they'll be far worse to come."

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Mr Beattie said Northern Ireland deserved better and described Mr Wilson as a "fool".

It is the second time in a matter of weeks that Mr Wilson, who is his party's chief whip at Westminster, has been rebuked over Covid-related tweets.

At the end of November he tweeted: "Ding dong merrily on high will be replaced this Christmas by ping-dong miserably we sigh."

On that occasion his party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said Covid was "no joking matter".

Speaking on Thursday, his party colleague Mr Givan said: "Sammy is able to speak for himself, and he can defend himself in terms of his remarks.

"[Covid] is serious, it does require that extra effort to be made, we are asking the public to follow us and they have been doing that.

"I'm not here to either explain or defend what other public representatives say."

Imposing restrictions on some within the DUP is simply not possible, when some within the party are clearly beyond the reach of the leadership.

"Welcome to my world", sighed Arlene Foster off mic when once asked to explain a Sammy Wilson tweet attacking Executive Covid restrictions.

She didn't defend or publicly criticise her East Antrim MP.

Nor did her successor as First Minister today, as he gave the same answer to the same tricky question.

"Sammy can speak for himself," Paul Givan told Good Morning Ulster.

Paul Frew is another DUP politician who speaks for himself when it comes to Covid restrictions.

Such solo runs were a distraction for the DUP leadership under Arlene Foster and will remain so under Jeffrey Donaldson.

'Brutal impact on society'

A senior surgeon who treats some of the sickest cancer patients in Northern Ireland also criticised Mr Wilson.

Mark Taylor, chairman of the Royal College of Surgeons, said on Twitter: "Maybe join me in one of the intensive care or emergency departments or when I am cancelling a patient's surgery as there is no bed (or no members of staff) Mr Wilson and I suspect you would want to delete this tweet below.

"The pandemic is not about either/or lives, versus livelihoods health versus business, it's about finding a way through that minimises the brutal impact on society both in terms of lives lost and long term health."

UUP leader Doug Beattie branded Mr Wilson a "self indulgent, narcissistic fool who jokes as people get sick"

'Grossly insensitive'

Ray Rafferty from trade union Unison told the BBC Mr Wilson's comments were insulting to people who had suffered from covid and the relatives of those who had died from it.

• What are the rules as NI's Covid numbers surge?

"Most of all, it is insulting to the people who are in intensive care," he said.

"Never before has the health service been stretched so much and I think that rather than give leadership, Sammy Wilson is undermining the efforts of society.

"I think Sammy needs to decide whether he wants to be a comedian or a politician and if it's a comedian then he should resign as a politician now."