Statement by the TUV’s South Antrim Westminster candidate Mel Lucas:

“When your unveiling as a candidate prompts not one but two statements in response from a rival party you know that you have them rattled. That is why both Rev McCrea and his sidekick Trevor Clarke were wheeled out by the DUP press office to attack me.

“The amazing thing is that the statement announcing my candidacy only made reference to the outgoing MP by quoting manifesto pledges which he made in 2005, speeches which he had made in the last Parliament and his voting record. Yet William McCrea says this amounts to a “vicious personal attack”.

“Well, Rev McCrea, if quoting back your own words and reminding you of your own voting record amounts to a “vicious personal attack” then it is time the people of South Antrim gave you your marching orders!

“Let’s have no more evasion in relation to the very real issues highlighted. Why were you absent from 53% of the votes in the last Parliament? Just what was more important than the vote on the Sexual Orientation Regulations which restricted religious liberty? Didn’t you think it worth your while to vote for the free speech amendment to “homophobic hatred” legislation?

“Even when Rev McCrea did bother to turn up he was strangely silent on the issues which mattered. He accuses TUV of attacking fellow Unionists while he is concerned with resisting Republicanism yet the outgoing South Antrim MP had nothing to say about the legislative change brought in by the St Andrews Act which opened up the possibility of Martin McGuinness becoming First Minister.

“And whether you like it or not, Rev McCrea, your health is very real issue in this election.

“Why, in 2007, did the idea of Sinn Fein in government make you “sick to the pit of [your] stomach” only for you to embrace the Belfast Agreement and prop up, by your words and actions, Martin McGuinness as co-First Minister?

“What was the cure? Those of us who are still sickened by the sight of unrepentant terrorists in government would very much like to know.

“The truth of course is that Rev McCrea cannot answer the points put to him. His only retort is to issue a statement full of meaningless platitudes which do nothing to address the issues raised. He stands condemned by his own words and actions. The day of reckoning has come.”