Peer hits out over anti-DUP gay pride banner

The image was apparently taken at the London gay pride gathering on Saturday, and shows Owen Jones smiling beneath the banner, which reads ‘**** the DUP,’ close to Nelson’s Column.

It appeared on the account he holds on the website Instagram, along with the message: “Happy Pride”.

It was followed by a string of comments largely supportive of Mr Jones, including one from a user called “grannychic” (who describes herself as a Rainbow Coalition advocate) which said: “Plz bring this to Belfast Pride”.

It emerged after the DUP was booed following a speech on Saturday by London mayor Sadiq Khan at the capital’s gay pride demonstration – CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

Lord Morrow, who has been the chairman of the DUP for about the last 10 years (and who lost his Fermanagh & South Tyrone MLA seat in March) told the News Letter: “I’ve said in the past: the one thing that is most striking about these people, and the liberal left, is how intolerant they are of anyone else’s point of view.

“And they have proved on so many occasions that they are out to be as provocative and insulting and hurtful as they possibly can.

“That has been the mark of their protests and their rallies and this is just another manifestation of it.”

Mr Jones himself has written in The Guardian about the DUP on a number of occasions; in an April 2015 article he described the party as (among other things) an “anti-women throwback to several centuries ago”.

Lord Morrow noted that the DUP is now led by a woman (it is the only major party in Northern Ireland to have an outright female leader).

“I think he needs to reflect,” Lord Morrow continued.

“He should be totally ashamed of himself.

“And where he’s coming from is very difficult to understand. He accused [us of being] a throwback to another century. He’s certainly not the future.”

He added: “Does he want people to take him as a serious journalist, as a professional journalist?

“Well then, he does really need to reflect on his behaviour.”