Michael Gove ‘apologises for attending DUP dinner’
2 min read
Michael Gove has reportedly apologised for attending a dinner to raise funds for DUP MP Ian Paisley last year.
Tory councillor David Harding said Mr Gove was unaware the event in the Tullyglass Hotel - which is under scrutiny amid claims local councils used taxpayer's money to buy tables there - was a fundraiser for the Northern Irish party.
He claims to have received a personal apology from the Environment Secretary at a meeting in Belfast.
Mr Harding, a councillor on the Causeway Coast and Glens Council, told the BBC he had met Mr Gove and a special advisor some time after the Tullyglass dinner and he said both apologised to him.
He said: "There's a clear instruction from the Conservative Party that members of the government do not attend functions that promote the interests of other parties or raise money for them and it shouldn't happen.
"They said they were clear this was a business event, that it wasn't a DUP event, that although it had been arranged by Ian Paisley, this wasn't about raising money for the DUP which it obviously was.
"I think it's just disgraceful that this event was presented as one thing and was clearly something else."
In a statement, Mr Paisley said he was "content to await the outcome" of an ongoing Electoral Commission investigation into the dinner.
He said the probe had "commenced after political rivals made a complaint" and said the "annual community and business engagement dinner in Ballymena was very successful and enjoyed by all who attended".
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
