Letter: I agree with erudite analysis that unionists need to reach out to Alliance voters, minorities and our Catholic friends

I enjoyed reading Philip Smith's contribution to the News Letter, on Wednesday (‘Unionists should heed Napoleon's advice, and wear a velvet glove over an iron fist,’ January 25), but was somewhat disturbed by my Ulster Unionist colleague's desire to resort to 'iron fist’ authoritarian rule dressed up with a velvet glove.

Having said that, I entirely agreed with his erudite analysis that we need to reach out to Alliance voting unionists, new minorities and our Catholic friends.

Which is why yours truly founded the pro-Union Mainstream group on social media as far back as 2014 with Eastern European, Muslim, Catholic, socialist, atheist, agnostic and Irish language administrators when nobody wanted to know.

Unfortunately a few years later, Mainstream aka Main-stream was reduced from 3,000 members to 2,000 because it wasn’t recognised as a ‘proper unionist group'. Because too many unionists, post Brexit, don't understand what we need to do to preserve the Union.

Secondly, much as I agree with my party's libertarian approach on social issues, it is crass stupidity to describe the protocol as a challenge, not a crisis. It is both.

And, finally, I am just an old guy with no axe to grind other than finding a way to preserve the Union.

Alan S. Carson, Belfast BT5

Philip Smith: Unionists should heed Napoleon's advice, and wear a velvet glove over an iron fist