Wilson comes under increasing pressure over climate change row
EAST Antrim MLA Sammy Wilson has come under increasing pressure to resign his post as Environment Minister over his controversial views on global warming.
A vote of no confidence in the DUP man was passed by Stormont's environment committee on Thursday (February 12).
The move came after Mr Wilson blocked a government advertisement campaign on climate change, describing it as being part of “an insidious propaganda campaign.”
Mr Wilson, who does not believe that climate change is a man-made problem, has been widely criticised for his views, with some political opponents and environmental campaigners calling for him to resign.
Among those who backed the vote of no confidence was East Antrim MLA Roy Begs Jnr.
“The Minister's obsession with denying the scientific orthodoxy that mankind is a major contributor to climate change runs contrary to the policy of his own Department, the Executive's Programme for Government and not forgetting the long discarded 2007 DUP election manifesto.
“The decision to support the vote of no-confidence in the Minister was, sadly, a very easy one to make,” he said.
South Antrim MLA David Ford, who previously referred to the Environment Minister as “an embarrassment”, revealed that he had abstained during the vote as “the motion will have no effect”.
“I felt the motion of no confidence was simply gesture politics and did nothing to tackle the real issues of ensuring Northern Ireland plays its part in tackling climate change.
“I told the committee that, rather than a knee-jerk response, it was more important to put pressure on the Executive as a whole to ensure that there was action on climate change,” he commented.
The committee agreed a proposal from Mr Ford that they should write to the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister to seek clarification on the Executive's climate change policy.
Despite the widespread criticism of the Minister and his views, his DUP colleagues have rallied round him, dismissing last week’s vote as “political point scoring” and “silly games”.
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Weather for Newtownabbey
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 10 C to 21 C
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