Letter: Unionist unity must be rooted in principle and credibility - it can't be built on slogans or selective memory

It is worth remembering that only a few years ago Jim Allister put a proposal to Jeffrey Donaldson and Doug Beattie - the then DUP and UUP leaders - not for parties to dissolve themselves, but for unionism to agree a single Westminster platform based on opposition to the Protocol, and to field one agreed unionist candidate in each Westminster constituency while retaining existing party structures.

When this question of practical unionist unity was raised, the only party leader in favour was Mr Allister.

It should also be remembered that in 2021 all unionist parties, including the TUV, the DUP, the UUP and the Progressive Unionist Party, stood united in opposition to the NI Protocol.

A clear public commitment was made that there would be no return to the Stormont Executive until the protocol was removed.

Five years on, important distinctions must be made.

The TUV has consistently maintained that the power-sharing executive should not operate while the protocol, and its successor arrangements, remain in place, though it has continued to attend and participate in the Stormont Assembly since the dud Donaldson deal restored the institutions.

The PUP, despite not having representation in the assembly, has also broadly maintained its opposition to the protocol in practice.

By contrast, other unionist parties have returned to the executive despite the continued existence, in substance, of Irish Sea border arrangements and the ongoing application of EU law.

If calls for unionist unity are to be taken seriously, they must be grounded in accuracy, consistency and honesty about the recent past.

Unity cannot be built on slogans or selective memory; it must be rooted in principle and credibility.

W J Craig, Belfast BT5