Labour have been encouraging plenty of controversy recently with the growing allegations of cronyism surrounding recent civil service and public appointments. Today, however, it’s a resignation that’s bringing yet more heat upon the flailing government. Northern Ireland’s Veterans Commissioner, Danny Kinahan, appointed in 2020 to champion the cause of 60,000 veterans yesterday left his position after an ‘open and frank’ conversation with Hilary Benn.
In his resignation letter, he blasted the government for their approach, declaring that: ‘I cannot provide the independent voice that veterans require. There is a feeling among some veterans in Northern Ireland that they have been forgotten and… do not enjoy the same protections as their counterparts in Great Britain’. The announcement unsurprisingly provoked consternation in Northern Ireland which was hardly soothed by the rather, er, tepid response of Benn, who acknowledged his work ‘over the last four years’ but failed to commit to any timeline on appointing a replacement.
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