Sir Jeffrey Donaldson: Man taken off flight after row with DUP leader

Image source, PA Media

A man was removed from a plane at Heathrow Airport after a row with Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson.

Police have confirmed a passenger was removed from the flight on Wednesday evening following a "verbal altercation".

The DUP has declined to comment but a party source said a man had been verbally abusive towards Sir Jeffrey.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said there had been no arrests.

They said that on 17:30 GMT, on Wednesday, airport staff made police aware of a "verbal altercation involving two male passengers during boarding".

"One man was removed from the flight," they added.

Earlier this year, Sir Jeffrey told the Commons how he had been subjected to threats as he continued his negotiations with the government over a deal on post-Brexit trading arrangements.

An investigation into the alleged threats against Sir Jeffrey detected no criminal offences, the PSNI said.

In January, a man was fined in a Scottish court after shouting a pro-IRA slogan at Sir Jeffrey's DUP party colleague Edwin Poots as he was boarding a flight in Glasgow.