For decades, the political establishment has operated on a system of backroom deals, self-preservation, and the protection of powerful men at the expense of victims. The conviction of Jeffrey Donaldson exposes a rotten political establishment that protects its own.
The revelations which surfaced during and since the judicial process make one thing undeniably clear: the public has a right to which institutions knew what, when they knew it, and how an abuser was permitted to rise to the pinnacle of political power. These issues are pertinently systemic and any approach which fails to tackle that root and branch will be insufficient.
The DUP, the PSNI, and the British intelligence services must open their books completely. No more secrets, no more cover-ups, and no more political expediency.
We reject any attempts by the state, the police, or political parties to sweep this dark chapter under the rug or carry out investigations into their own actions. People Before Profit demand an immediate, fully independent public inquiry.
Any such inquiry should include a rigorous independent investigation into the DUP and the UUP for the period of Donaldson’s tenure, alongside the release of all relevant correspondence from the period leading up to Donaldson’s arrest in March 2024. This should be done with all due legal process and with sensitivity to the needs of victims.
It must be assessed whether party insiders prioritised protecting the DUP’s political brand and political negotiations over the safety of victims and the public. The state and the structures that led to this scandal must be held to account to ensure there are no further victims.
We further demand that the PSNI states clearly whether any prior reports, informal intelligence, or social services alerts regarding Donaldson or any other high profile politician were shelved or ignored in the past.
The British state and its intelligence apparatus have a long, sordid history of hiding uncomfortable truths in the North, under the guise of "national security." We demand the immediate declassification and review of MI5 files concerning relevant political leadership. We demand, too, the full disclosure of intelligence possessed by state agencies regarding Donaldson's actions and whether they weaponised them as political leverage or suppressed them to maintain constitutional ‘stability’.
For decades, working-class people have been lectured on law, order, and morality by politicians who now face the most serious questions about their role in the political elevation of an abuser. These same political leaders have worked hard to frustrate access to consent-based training for young people to enable them to speak up about abuse. They have failed women and girls facing violence and frustrated their access to justice. This period must mark a watershed moment, not just in terms of sordid institutional cover-ups, but for failure of those in power to tackle misogynistic violence while simultaneously preaching ethics to our communities.