Ulster Unionist leader, Steve Aiken OBE MLA, has called on Sammy Wilson to apologise for his personalised attack on the Chair of the British Medical Association in Northern Ireland, Dr Tom Black.
Mr Aiken said:
“Sammy Wilson`s personalised attack on Dr Tom Black is a new low for the DUP. To be attacking a leading doctor when the NHS is facing its greatest ever medical crisis is beneath contempt. Instead of attacking doctors like Tom Black, Sammy Wilson should be getting behind them and supporting them rather than launching a cheap, snide salvo. If he has a different point of view from Tom Black, that`s fine, but the way in which he has approached this is beneath contempt.
“His comments are pathetic but what we have come to expect from a DUP MP who has a long record of contempt for the public health message and has continually sought to undermine his own party colleagues on the Executive. If we were to follow Sammy Wilson`s advice our hospitals would be decimated and further long-term damage caused to our economy.
“Dr Tom Black is an immensely respected medical professional, he is entitled to express his views as Chair of the British Medical Association and Sammy Wilson should do the decent thing and apologise for his comments.”