'Will Simon Hoare's Tory cheerleaders stick by him over motoring fine expenses revelations?' asks the DUP

Mr Hoare, the chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee in the Commons, has so far not commented on the fact he tried to claim four £80 motoring fines back from taxpayers.

Kate Hoey, the independent peer who was once chair of the multi-party committee, has already called on him to quit, saying that his continued presence at the helm of the committee is “untenable”.

Mr Hoare, an MP for Dorset, has earned the ire of the DUP in the recent past.

Last year he criticised unionist concerns about the political overtones of an Irish language act, saying that “part of the great strength of our United Kingdom are the cultures, the language, the music, the literature, the poetry, all of those things which makes us such a strong and attractive geopolitical force in the world”.

“This is the New Decade, New Approach,” he had said.

"We are trying to move things forward. The Government is trying to move things forward with fairness and equity, respect and support.”

In February this year Mr Hoare retweeted an Irish News article titled “DUP Protocol case doesn’t stand up”, adding the comment: “There’s much to recommend reading this article.”

Days later, in a further swipe at the party, Mr Hoare remarked that there is “growing appetite” for a change to Stormont rules to stop one party from bringing down the powersharing institutions.

Now, after it emerged this week that he had wrongly claimed the congestion charge penalties on his parliamentary expenses back in November 2019, a DUP spokesperson has said: “Simon Hoare has never been slow to offer his own opinions in relation to any issue, including on the behaviour of the government and individual MPs.

"Many will wait to see whether he takes the same approach to himself as he has done with others.

“Some of the most strident scrutiny could well come from within his own party, but it will be interesting to see if others who have been cheerleaders for Mr Hoare’s style of chairmanship will offer their continued support now.”

The News Letter has sought to reach Mr Hoare in recent days, as well as several members of the committee, but no-one has replied, nor has Mr Hoare addressed the issue on his social media accounts.

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