Robinson hoping Carla Lockhart will not quit DUP role

DUP leader Gavin Robinson expressed his hope that Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart would not resign from her role within the party over the ongoing controversy surrounding the Drumcree parading dispute. The DUP member has called for her party to remove Emma Little-Pengelly, the deputy First Minister, from her office, which would subsequently force Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O'Neill to relinquish her position.

Lockhart has accused O'Neill of being unable to serve as the First Minister due to her involvement in an unlawful protest against the Orange Order's Drumcree parade in Portadown. Despite the DUP's refusal to remove Little-Pengelly from her role, they have instructed her not to engage in joint activities with O'Neill. As a result, O'Neill and Little-Pengelly did not attend a joint economic event in Glasgow today, nor were they scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Scottish First Minister John Swinney, and Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth.

Lockhart, who previously left the DUP's strategy-making body over the issue, criticized the party's approach in an open letter to her colleagues, stating that there was no alternative but to remove O'Neill from office. The DUP leader was asked if he expected Lockhart to quit the party, to which he responded that he hoped it was not the case and emphasized the shared anger among them towards O'Neill.

The DUP is actively pushing for the UK government to introduce stronger sanctions for Stormont ministers breaching their duty to uphold the rule of law.