Letter: Unionists are left with a difficult dilemma in future local government elections

However the outcome of the vote should not have come as a surprise to anyone, not least to the DUP who tabled the motion. The party clearly knew that the motion would never draw sufficient votes to pass. As such the question has to be asked as to why the DUP invested so much time and energy on a motion they knew was doomed to fail?

Without questioning the individual sincerity of those who supported the motion, it has become impossible not to be sceptical about any aspect of DUP policy.

This cynicism is compounded by the fact that almost immediately after the vote the DUP were seemingly trying to make political capital out of their supposed defeat.

Many of the party’s elected representatives took to their social media platforms to berate the fact that motion only failed by one vote. They lamented that if only if more unionists had registered to vote (for the DUP presumably), or if the unionist vote had not be so split (by the TUV presumably), then this humiliation of our Armed Forces would never have been allowed to happen.

Is it possible that the DUP actually sought a high profile defeat on this emotional issue in order to rally the unionist electorate and distract from their failures in recent years?

Regardless, the DUP cannot expect more unionists to vote whilst they have shown such scant regard to the their previous manifesto commitments. In particular, the pledge not to restore the executive whilst the protocol remains.

As there has been no grassroots rebellion to the party’s leadership, we must presume the DUP’s elected representatives throughout the province are for the most part content with their current position.

This leaves unionists with a difficult dilemma in future local government elections. The cost of not voting is to lose all influence over local councils. However, the price of voting for the DUP or UUP is to reward parties who are disingenuously cooperating with the implementation of the protocol.

The onus is now on the TUV and other anti-protocol campaigners to work together and build their local profiles in preparation for the next local government election in 2028. Every unionist must have the option of voting for an authentic opponent of the Irish Sea border.

Kirk McDowell, Belfast BT5