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Good morning John

The rule of law is the foundation of our society. Everyone is equal before it and equally subject to it, whatever position they hold.

On the Nolan Show this week, I was asked a simple question. Was violence threatened on the Garvaghy Road? My answer was clear. I believe this decision was never really about a parade. It was about the threat of violence, disorder and terror.

Brendan McKenna has now confirmed that petrol bombs were present on the road and were taken from local youths. He says residents destroyed them. We have not been told who, or whether police were ever informed.

I do not believe petrol bombs were the only threat. I have spoken publicly about concerns that gunmen were available, and I believe police judged there was a real possibility that someone - an officer, a resident or an Orangeman - could be shot.

Dissident republicans were highly visible on the Garvaghy Road, standing shoulder to shoulder with Sinn Fein, mainstream republicans who have a past of their own and SDLP representatives. They posed a threat then and they pose one now, not least to PSNI officers, for whom the risk remains substantial.

None of us in positions of leadership want to see officers placed at risk on that road, or as a result of police action on it. But that is precisely why the public deserves the truth. If the threat of terror was serious enough to halt a lawful parade, people should be told. If it was not, they should be told that too.

Powers under the Public Processions Act that had never been used before - not even when Northern Ireland faced real violence and terror - were used here for the first time. Without an explanation, that is incomprehensible. Mob rule and threat cannot be seen to get their way. If they do, the lesson will not stay in Portadown.

My colleagues in Portadown have lived and breathed this issue for two years. They have every right to voice the anger of the people they represent, and I stand with them. Like me, they have pressed the Chief Constable to be open with the public.

As this returns to court on Monday, the Chief Constable must set out the full picture of the dissident threat to his officers and to Portadown District. Transparency is key to understanding the decisions taken.

Alongside this, the wider police investigation into law breaking on the Garvaghy Road must run its full course. It has now moved to its next phase. Those reasonably suspected of offences are being called for interview, and evidence is being built against identified suspects. The Chief Constable must keep the public regularly updated on its progress. The same transparency demanded on the threat picture must apply here too.

No one can ever be above the law because of their status, title or office. The law must apply to a First Minister exactly as it applies to a resident or an Orangeman. We have already met the Secretary of State this week and told him in no uncertain terms that he must bring forward a change in the law that allows for those who breach the pledge of office to be sanctioned and fully held to account.

Confidence in fairness will not be restored by statements alone. The Government must be seen to defend the rule of law, visibly and without exception, in a clear situation where Ministers blocked a road and invited others to do the same. Those who break the law, however senior, must face the same consequences as anyone else. A political title is not a shield.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

Rt. Hon. Gavin Robinson MP

DUP Leader

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