Dilemma a familiar one for me - Jeffrey Donaldson
Jeffrey Donaldson
THE plight now facing David McNarry is one with which I am very familiar.
Having left the UUP a number of years ago I am in a position to compare the situation within my former party to the DUP, of which I am now a member.
I am conscious that the transition made by myself and other elected colleagues in a very public manner has also been made quietly in the polling booth by many thousands of unionists across the province.
Every party must have the right to discipline members who step outside the rules, but it is extremely rare that the power is exercised for actions apparently sanctioned by the party leadership.
While the DUP has sometimes been described as a well disciplined party, in contrast to the UUP, I have found that every effort is made to find agreement among its members.
We certainly wouldn’t remove a senior member from office because he was promoting greater unionist unity.
The broad church that was once the UUP has become a cold place for people like David.
The party that I left was characterised by ‘warring factions’. If you dared to challenge the leadership you were ostracised and that is what is happening to David today. In his own words, he feels abused.
So little has changed despite the verdict of the electorate on such dysfunctional behaviour.
Contrast this with a party whose membership is united in a common cause and behind a leadership which has outlined a strategy and vision for the future that everyone can work towards.
The growth of the DUP over recent years also demonstrates that a greater and wider range of views can be accommodated within a political party without diluting that unity of purpose.
Whatever the reasons put forward for the action taken against David McNarry by his party colleagues, ultimately disciplinary action was taken because of his clear desire for greater co-operation between unionists.
There is a supreme irony in the year we will celebrate the centenary of the Ulster Covenant and the vision of those whose mantra was ‘united we stand’, that unionists working together 100 years later should cause such anxiety within one section of unionism.
Jeffrey Donaldson is the DUP MP for Lagan Valley
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
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Wind direction: South west
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