Letter: Ben Habib is right – there’s only one unionist party in Northern Ireland
A letter from Thomas Smyth:
In telling it as it is, warts and all, I suspect Ben Habib’s opinion piece (All unionist assembly members should boycott upcoming sham protocol vote, November 6) will have been an uncomfortable read for many DUP members and supporters.
However, Mr Habib is correct in his conclusion that there is only one unionist party in Northern Ireland, namely the TUV.
In choosing to play second fiddle to Sinn Fein-IRA within a Northern Ireland Executive implementing and operating an Irish Sea border, the DUP is actively working to separate NI from the rest of the UK.
No amount of highfalutin waffle about there being ‘no alternative’ can alter the fact that the DUP is voluntarily working in partnership with SF-IRA to operate a border between NI and GB and to align NI’s economy with the Republic of Ireland’s.
Thankfully, there is an alternative. In Jim Allister KC and the TUV, unionism has a leader and party that refuses to surrender the Union and works relentlessly to fix the constitutional damage inflicted by the DUP and their executive partners.
DUP members and supporters have a choice. Either, continue to support a self-serving party that is more concerned with exercising power and privilege in Stormont, or join with the TUV to demand full restoration of equal rights for NI citizens within the United Kingdom.
Finally, to Mr Ben Habib I say thank you for caring about this part of the UK.
The concerted assault on NI’s position within the UK over the past 50+ years has left unionism severely weakened and with a dwindling number of friends and sympathisers, nationally and internationally.
Your support and friendship is invaluable and gratefully appreciated by many unionists within NI and across the UK.
Thomas Smyth, Belfast