Why should the UUP realign with the 'hypocritical' DUP?
THIS is from a Belfast Telegraph editorial last Wednesday: "...the Tories are accused of not simply siding with one party in Northern Ireland ... but of taking sides with the unionist community. That notion must quickly be dispelled otherwise the likely next Government of the UK will be seen as partial - a recipe for disaster in this Province".
It doesn't matter who is Prime Minister, for they are Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and that kingdom includes Northern Ireland. That is a political and geographical fact of life. And since the 'constitutional guarantee' (which underpins political development here) insists that Northern Ireland remains a part of the United Kingdom for so long as the majority wish it (which we do), then how can a Prime Minister be anything other than partial? Particularly if the party he leads is either fielding or endorsing candidates in Northern Ireland!
Let's be quite clear on this, if David Cameron isn't seen to be taking sides with the unionist community then he is wasting his time here. His task, therefore, is a fairly straightforward one: he must be an unembarrassed and unambiguous persuader for and promoter of the socio-economic, historical and political benefits of the Union and the constitutional integrity of the UK. And if that upsets the SDLP, Sinn Fein and the 'not-really-sure-where-we-stand-on-the-Union' Alliance Party, then tough! Let them be persuaders for and promoters of a united Ireland, helped along, as they are, by Brian Cowen.
I'm all for the pluralism, reaching out and pan-UK unionist approach which lies at the heart of the UCUNF project, but as I wrote over a year ago the success of the project 'will boil down to whether or not the pro-Union community is ready to trust the Conservative Party and David Cameron to promote and protect their interests.' In other words, he had to move beyond the constitutional guarantee and a few well crafted soundbites and be seen as aggressively partial on unionism and the Union.
Is the Belfast Agreement in any way undermined by a Conservative Prime Minister being regarded as partial? Well, if it is, then it surely means that nationalists/republicans really do regard the Agreement as a staging post to a united Ireland - which is what the DUP used to believe before fear of Plan B pushed them into the arms of Sinn Fein.
Let's put it another way: is unionism and the Union undermined by a Conservative Prime Minister - any Prime Minister in fact - being regarded as a neutral broker? Of course: which is why I believe that UK Prime Ministers should be Union-partial in word and deed. The job of the Prime Minister is to represent and champion the interests of the United Kingdom, so a little less concern for the needs of unsuccessful republican terrorists wouldn't go amiss at this point.
But while I remain broadly supportive of a realignment of unionism which embraces the UUP/Conservative pan-UK approach and a policy strategy directed at that very significant electoral demographic who aren't entirely comfortable with purely 'little Ulster' unionism, I am fundamentally opposed to a so-called 'unionist unity' involving the DUP and Orange Order.
I have never voted DUP and I will never vote DUP. The sole purpose of the DUP - the very reason for its creation, I would argue - was the destruction of the UUP. The entire focus of their political, propaganda and electoral strategy was built around attacks on UUP policy and UUP leaders. There wasn’t an “arrangement” or “understanding” with us which they didn’t destroy when it suited them and you could count on the digits of a three-toed sloth the number of times the DUP did anything to try and shore up a collective approach to the problems faced by unionism.
Until fairly recently they were still describing us as the party of “rollover unionism” while continuing to launch particularly vicious attacks about the nature of our relationship with the Conservatives. Yet today we are expected to buy into the notion that the DUP and UUP should be friends again!
This is the DUP which triple-somersaulted from every position and pledge it ever held in order that it could occupy office. This is the DUP which yielded a mutual veto to Sinn Fein and changed the rules so that Sinn Fein could take the post of First Minister. This is the DUP which is being hammered by the TUV and shedding support by the day. This is the DUP which will struggle to hold seats in the Assembly or Westminster elections. This is the DUP which claimed that it had restored confidence to unionism and “ended the era of stop-start devolution and the intervention and interference of British and Irish Prime Ministers”. This is the DUP which has proved itself utterly, utterly incompetent. And this is the DUP which will dump the UUP when we have served our purpose.
Let me tell you exactly what the DUP mean by unionist unity. They mean a cobbled-together marriage of convenience to get themselves out of the hole that they have dug. Oh yes, they will spout the grand words of cooperation and maximising opportunities; and for good measure they will also drag in the Orange Order and ‘consultation with the pro-Union family.’ But this is about nothing more than the preservation of the DUP. And if this strategy manages to cause internal ‘conflicting message’ problems for the UUP; and problems with the UUP-Conservative relationship; and, better still, ensures that TUV voters are less likely to transfer to the UUP then so much the better from the DUP’s stupendously hypocritical perspective.
As an Ulster Unionist I reject any realignment which embraces the DUP. I’m not saying that my own party is perfect and that we haven’t made mistakes (of which I have been openly critical), but I would contend that we have always acted in the best interests of Northern Ireland.
That cannot be said of the DUP. And if it cannot be said, then why would we realign with them?
Alex Kane is the UUP’s director of communications.
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