You can't get me, I'm part of the Union
One of the joys of this column (for me, anyway) is the opportunity it gives me to air my views on just about anything that takes my fancy: and my goodness, an awful lot of things have taken my fancy over the years.
I don't expect every reader to agree with everything I write, for that's not the point of the column. I don't claim that every view I express is the correct one and nor do I pretend that the opinions are set in stone. I call it wrong and get it wrong on many occasions; and I offend, albeit mostly without meaning to.
But I like to think, whether you agree or disagree with me, that you accept that what I write really does represent what I think on a subject. I don't set out to be controversial and nor do I write to please friends or vested interests. Similarly, I don't "have a go" at people or their opinions just for the fun of it. Yes, I have and always have had a maverick streak in me: and yes, I have beliefs which don't always fit comfortably within mainstream thinking in Northern Ireland. And to be honest, though, if I did fit comfortably into the mainstream, or did write to please a particular audience, then I suspect that fewer people would read me or listen to me.
I'm aware, too, that the hundreds of columns and articles I have written for the News Letter in particular (dating back to September 1979) are littered with "hostages to fortune"---a few lines or paragraphs which, if lifted and presented as stand-alone comment, would give an entirely erroneous impression of my core values. It's one of the potential pitfalls of being a commentator or columnist. It goes with the territory.
It's exactly the same for political representatives and leaders. Indeed, if I could be bothered to do so I'm certain that I could pluck sentences from speeches or press releases by Peter Robinson, or Sammy Wilson, or Jeffrey Donaldson, or Ian Paisley, which could easily be construed as a personal commitment that they would "never, under any circumstances, and irrespective of what the IRA may do, be part of a government which included people like Martin McGuinness or Gerry Kelly."
Anyway, there has been a debate in the letters pages of the News Letter, and also further a-field as it happens, about whether a self-confessed atheist and non-monarchist can also be a unionist.
I was born in Belfast on August 13, 1955. I am, by fact of birth, life, law, circumstance and choice, a citizen of the United Kingdom. Nothing, and I mean nothing, has ever made me consider another identity as preferable to my present one. Not the terrorism of the IRA. Not the dithering and wimpishness of successive British governments. Not the half-baked "nation-once-again" rhetoric of John Hume or Gerry Adams. Not those so-called Loyalists who have made the case for an independent Ulster. Not those wishy-washy hand-me-down unionists who think we should celebrate "our Irish identity."
I believe in the United Kingdom and I believe that the Union offers the best socio-economic, cultural, historical, educational, constitutional, political and financial future for everyone in Northern Ireland. I am a pan-UK unionist, someone who believes that the links should be promoted and championed. I wasn't always an atheist: but I have always been a unionist.
My views on the monarchy raise a slightly different problem: and, to paraphrase one of my critics, how can I believe in the United Kingdom when I don't believe in the Head of State? Well, I also believe that we should have an entirely elected second chamber, as opposed to political appointments to the Lords. I don't believe that the United Kingdom should be in the European Union. I, like almost every other unionist, was very much opposed to unelected and unaccountable NIO administrations making decisions on my future. Regular readers will know, too, that I have expressed my concerns about the lack of collective or individual accountability at the heart of our present Executive Committee.
I have absolutely no objection to Her Majesty on a personal level. Indeed, I think she does a remarkable job. But as someone who regards himself as a democratic purist I have said that my personal preference---and it is only my personal preference---would be that we have an elected Head of State. Putting it bluntly, everyone in authority, from the humblest parish councillor to the Head of State should be both elected and removable. But that State would remain the United Kingdom.
That said, I acknowledge the fact that the overwhelming majority of my fellow citizens are happier with a monarchical system rather than a presidential one: so be it. I see no pressing conflict or contradiction between my views on the monarchy and religion and my passionate belief in the Union and the United Kingdom. Actually, it's the diversity of opinion and the tolerance of opinion which is the bedrock of my belief. Believing in an elected Head of State doesn't make me an Irish Republican and it certainly doesn't diminish or undermine my sense of unionism or my British identity.
What passes for my political and journalistic career has been devoted to promoting the Union and seeking to broaden its appeal to a wider audience within Northern Ireland. And if there are people out there who are determined (for whatever reason) to trawl through every article I have ever written, then I challenge them to present the evidence that I am not pro-Northern Ireland, pro-Union and pro-United Kingdom.
Unionism cannot be summed up in a one-definition-fits-all soundbite. Any definition will always be nuanced and calibrated. But as someone who believes in the Union, in the geographical integrity of the United Kingdom and in the constitutional flexibility which underpins it all (and let's not forget that the UK as we know it today is less than a century old), I have no hesitation and no difficulty in saying, loudly, proudly and unambiguously, that I am a Unionist.
I feel better for getting that out of my system! So a very happy new year to all of you (really, all of you!): and revere or revile me, I hope you'll continue to join me every Monday.
Alex. Kane is Director of Communications for the UUP
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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