Boris Johnson sacks NI Secretary Julian Smith…

As predicted Boris Johnson has sacked Julian Smith in his reshuffle.

Serving the people of Northern Ireland has been the biggest privilege. I am extremely grateful to @BorisJohnson for giving me the chance to serve this amazing part of our country. The warmth & support from people across NI has been incredible. Thank you so much.

— Julian Smith MP (@JulianSmithUK) February 13, 2020

A very risky move from Boris Johnson in removing a Secretary of State who was not only popular but more importantly seemed to be competent – unlike some of the previous planks who did the job. I also think it shows terrible leadership from Johnson who has put his own petty differences above the needs of the people of Northern Ireland.

There is no word yet on who will be our new Proconsul. Will they go back to the previous strategy of palming us off with some non-entity?

If you never do anything else in your career giving back dignity and showing compassion to @SAVIA_NI and the victims of historic child abuse is a pretty amazing legacy for any politician to leave, good luck for the future

— Allison Morris (@AllisonMorris1) February 13, 2020

Thank you @JulianSmithUK for your tireless commitment to devolution, for the work you've done for victims of historical institutional abuse & for securing much needed resource for Derry.

Sacking the most successful SoS in a decade shows Johnson's dangerous indifference to us.

— Colum Eastwood 🇺🇦 (@columeastwood) February 13, 2020

I was suddenly struck by the urge to rank all 21 Northern Ireland Secretaries of State from best to worst pic.twitter.com/kOTrHB4GLm

— Peter Donaghy (@peterdonaghy) February 12, 2020

Brian O'Neill

Managing Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.

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Boris Johnson sacks NI Secretary Julian Smith…

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