Bryson: It’s high time unionists weaponised the law as ruthlessly as republicans

Mr Bryson made the comments as his organisation Unionist Voice Policy Studies put forward a set of legal arguments for undercutting the existence of the NI Protocol.

The arguments (detailed at this link) are all fundamentally based on the Good Friday Agreement – a deal which Mr Bryson himself has vehemently opposed (see also below an article he has written for the News Letter).

In 2018 he had addressed MPs in Westminster, calling the deal “a surrender to IRA terrorism to stop them bombing England” and “a moral stain on the British parliament”.

His remarks buttress those of Brexiteer baroness Kate Hoey, who was quoted in the News Letter today, lamenting what she sees as anti-Union bias in the fields of law and journalism.

She voiced support for loyalists who “seek entry to professional vocations such as journalism, law, and public service” because “there are very justified concerns that many professional vocations have become dominated by those of a nationalist persuasion, and this positioning of activists is then used to exert influence on those in power”.#

Writing in the preamble to today’s Unionist Voice report, Mr Bryson said: “Unionism must weaponise the mechanisms and procedures of the institutions (for so long as they remain in existence) to benefit unionism.

“There can be no goodwill or balance; unionism must ruthlessly and relentlessly exploit the institutions for the benefit of unionism...

“And those provisions should be weaponised without a hint of shame or embarrassment; it is simply returning the serve.

“It cannot, and will not, be the case whereby nationalism can weaponise the Agreement and the law more generally, without the inevitable political and legal retaliation.”

And closely echoing Baroness Hoey, he added: “As we head into 2022 it is imperative that unionism and loyalism collectively weaponise the power of the law, and engage in a strategic concerted campaign to rebalance the professional class and public policy in Northern Ireland, alongside securing an end of the Union-subjugating Protocol.”

To accomplish this he called for “the creation of a conveyor belt of activists focused on entering the professional class and using their position to advance the pro-Union cause”.

Added to that, unionism needs to be “churning out ideas, arguments and legal positions which can form a deep canyon of intellectual capital, to be drawn upon by those presently in positions of power within the political institutions, judiciary, media, academia, and legal profession”.

The News Letter has unearthed some hard data which appears to support Baroness Hoey’s comments about a demographic imbalance in the legal profession.

According to the 2011 census, there were 2,474 legal professionals with a Catholic background practicing in the Province, compared with 1,665 from a Protestant background (no such breakdown could be readily found for journalists).

• Jamie Bryson article for News Letter: The Poots Protocol checks need cross-community executive approval

More from this reporter:

News Letter exclusive on the fall-out from Gerry Adams court dispute: Lawsuits against the state from people interned in Northern Ireland 50 years ago now number up to 400

Click here: Kate Hoey voices fears over influence of anti-Union ‘activism’ in NI courts and media as fresh protocol report published

——— ———

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdowns having had a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Visit

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptionsnow to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Ben Lowry, Editor