Letter: ​One single unionist party simply will not work - more time would just be spent on infighting

He argues that there should be one party representing unionists who are socialists, liberals and conservatives, working class and middle class, rich and poor. Then again, pigs do fly!

Let’s finally put this whole thing to bed: there will never be a party big enough or cohesive enough to accommodate Claire Sugden and Jim Allister, Doug Beattie and Jon Burrows (the UUP tried but failed), Timothy Gaston and Robbie Butler.

The mere idea that a single unionist party will solve all the problems doesn’t make any sense. Politicians have history of going out on their own and forming their own political parties – Desmond O’Malley formed the Progressive Democrats in Ireland after he was expelled from Fianna Fáil in 1985 – a party that went on to be in government for 15 of its 24-year existence.

Like in the economy, competition helps bolster growth. In unionism’s case, intra-party competition will eventually expand the unionist vote.

If we just had one unionist party, there would be more time spent on party infighting than tackling the real day-to-day issues and challenging the narrative that Northern Ireland’s needs are best served outside of the UK.

The argument for a single unionist party in Northern Ireland is based on the precipice that if you support Northern Ireland’s link within the UK, then you should be banded together as one big group of people in one big party.

That is ludicrous. How can you seriously argue that there should be a single unionist party when the days of UUP rule between 1921 and 1972 were days when working class unionist communities lived in appalling social and economic conditions?

Does Mr McNarry not understand why the old Northern Ireland Labour Party was winning 25.4% in the early 1960s in Stormont elections? The UUP was the single party of unionism, but failed to represent all strands of unionism.

How can you argue for a single unionist party when the DUP, UUP and TUV all espouse right-wing politics? This alone is the main source as to why working-class unionist communities are not engaged with politics, are feeling ignored and are falling behind their Irish nationalist counterparts. Not a single prominent unionist politician has addressed the root causes of working-class unionism’s despondency with the political system.

A single unionist party would effectively mean a party led by wannabe-Thatcherites, social conservatives and evangelical Protestants, who will advocate for policies which will not win a single additional vote for unionism in working class unionist communities, amongst middle class Catholics who are not convinced of the merits of a united Ireland or even among the small, but significant voting base of second generation immigrants who have lived in NI their entire lives.

Intra-unionist debate between different unionist parties is a sign of confidence – confidence that political unionism can accommodate a diversity of views on social and economic issues.

Edward Ferrin, Belfast BT14