A Lutheran ethic leaves unionists ill-equipped for the duplicity of Boris Johnson

A letter from George McNally:
By George McNally
Published 24th Mar 2021, 12:55 BST
Updated 24th Mar 2021, 13:21 BST
Boris Johnson with Arlene Foster in Fermanagh this month. George McNally writes: "One must be fair to unionist politicians as they tried to create policies in the face of constant betrayal by successive British governments"Boris Johnson with Arlene Foster in Fermanagh this month. George McNally writes: "One must be fair to unionist politicians as they tried to create policies in the face of constant betrayal by successive British governments"
Boris Johnson with Arlene Foster in Fermanagh this month. George McNally writes: "One must be fair to unionist politicians as they tried to create policies in the face of constant betrayal by successive British governments"

Sam McBride is an outstanding political commentator (Ben Lowry is not too far behind).

Sam’s piece on Saturday (‘A failure of unionist diplomacy has left it more isolated than for decades,’ March 20, see link below) rings and resounds with insightful truth.

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For the past five years I’ve spent eight weeks annually in Washington DC. I was a frequent visitor to Tenleytown library where I would read the newspapers and magazines. I never came across any article espousing the case for unionism but there were many to the contrary.

Letter to the editorLetter to the editor
Letter to the editor

One must be fair to unionist politicians (past and present) as they tried to create policies in the face of constant betrayal by successive British governments, the duplicity and cant of Dublin and Brussels egged on by the ill-informed, atavistic clamour of the Irish-American lobby pumping out (non-ego) platitudinous pap about shared futures,reconciliation and forgiveness.

Most of us who were born here are aware of the historical and current conflation of religion and politics which, sui generis, can create dysfunctional government by mandatory coalition of those with opposing attitudes.

Often overlooked is that those Protestants who vote unionist have internalised the Lutheran principles of the Protestant ethic and are ill-equipped to deal with the duplicity of Boris Johnson (who imagines himself to be Cicero without a toga).

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I walk the pavements with red, white and blue kerbstones every day in the Waterside to collect the hard copies of my newspapers. I can’t repeat on a family newspaper what is being said about the DUP.

My sample may be small but over and over again I hear: ‘Jim Allister of the TUV is the only one we’re left with.’

The Stormont election next May could be the swansong for the DUP.

George McNally, Londonderry

• Sam McBride: A failure of unionist diplomacy has left it more isolated than for decades

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Related topics:Boris JohnsonBen Lowry