Statement by TUV MEP Jim Allister:-

“In her praise of Senator Edward Kennedy Diane Dodds displays a disquieting lack of judgment. I find myself much more in agreement with Lord Tebbitt, who rightly observed, “I don't think Kennedy would have got past the honours committee in view of his personal life in the US, let alone his entirely one-sided partisan attitude to British politics."

"If Diane Dodds is so easily taken in as to think Kennedy has morphed into some sort of compliant Brit and is fit for Royal patronage, then I wonder how she would defend the core values of Unionism when faced with the virulence of some far left MEPs.

"I suppose when justification of abandonment of past stances requires outlandish claims that republicanism has metamorphosed into a pale shade of unionism, then lauding Ted Kennedy isn’t surprising.”