The DUP has said a complaint to the Assembly's standards watchdog over a controversial tweet by Edwin Poots after Prince George was branded a gay icon is "spurious".

LGBT website PinkNews had described Prince George as a "gay icon" after a picture emerged of the young royal holding his hands to his face while boarding a helicopter.

The complaint, by Green Party MLA Clare Bailey, came after Mr Poots tweeted his support for Jim Allister after the TUV leader condemned PinkNews.

Last Friday Mr Poots tweeted: "Totally supporting Jim on this one, making children an icon of sexuality today, pedophilia (sic) tomorrow. Absolutely disgusting."

The tweet contained a link to a newspaper article in which Mr Allister's described the PinkNews story as "entirely inappropriate" and called for it to be withdrawn.

On yesterday's Nolan Show gay Conservative MP Nigel Evans said both PinkNews and Mr Poots were "in the wrong".

"It does sound odd putting in the same sentence, mentioning gay and paedophilia," he said of Mr Poots' tweet.

He added that he had read the PinkNews article, and "even though it's done in a light-hearted way, I think it's inappropriate for them to have printed that".

However, Mr Evans added that Mr Poots' tweet was "completely wrong and misjudged as well, and people have got to be very careful how they use the language".

Mr Evans said that he felt the views of some members of the DUP - currently his party's partners in Government - were "inappropriate and wrong".

He said: "They need to think long and hard before anybody uses that word paedophilia in the same sentence clearly as the word gay, and there is no link at all between the two.

"I just think that people need to grow up a bit and fully appreciate how those words could be hurtful for gay people listening to them."

Yesterday the DUP backed Mr Poots.

Referring to Ms Bailey's formal complaint, the party said: "Mr Poots has made it clear that his tweet was not making the claims alleged in this spurious complaint.

"Clare Bailey's complaint appears to be more about a headline rather than real concern for a code of conduct."

However, Ms Bailey said her decision to make a complaint to the Assembly's commissioner for standards was "not something that has been done lightly".

She added: "Edwin Poots should take note of the 5,800 people that have signed our petition on the matter.

"These people have acted following what is for them an offensive and unacceptable tweet concerning the LGBTQ community."

Belfast Telegraph