Jon Burrows says unionism is at a crossroads - and the Ulster Unionist Party is ready to lead
Unionism is at a crossroads, and faces a choice between settling for better managing votes or growing it – and whether to continue with the current leadership or change it, Jon Burrows has said.
The Ulster Unionist leader was addressing his party’s conference in Belfast – where the theme was “stronger together” in the UK.
He said the next election could be a “circuit breaker” that the unionist community and Northern Ireland need – saying the DUP was ready to fight, but the Ulster Unionists ready to lead.
Mr Burrows said Northern Ireland benefits from the UK – whether it is in a pandemic or a credit crunch, or in terms of national security.
A “new Ireland” he said was “constitutional vandalism” – and that his offer of a debate to the First Minister Michelle O’Neill was not about entering a discussion, but about “fact-checking myths”
“We will make sure that that border poll doesn't come because we will argue the case and evangelise for our Union in every part of Northern Ireland. This party is the party of the union”, he said.
He criticised the DUP for wanting to keep open the option of collapsing Stormont – which has said had “achieved nothing” in the past.
“Stormont is not perfect, and it needs fixed. But collapsing it would be one of the most destructive things unionists could ever do. I have heard talk about gift wrapping seats.
“Collapsing Stormont would gift wrap the union, potentially, to Sinn Fein. It would allow them to call us a failed state, it would hand all power to London, it would almost certainly give Dublin a greater consultative role. What kind of strategy is this for unionism.”, the North Antrim MLA said.
There was also a direct appeal to Alliance Party voters to come home to the Ulster Unionist Party, claiming Alliance is “drifting towards outright nationalism”.
“They vote with Sinn Fein more often than any other party in Stormont – even the SDLP,” he said.
Mr Burrows went on to contend that Alliance has “failed victims and failed farmers” through its Justice Minister Naomi Long and agriculture minister Andrew Muir.
“They have failed the basic test of competence, and they hide it behind permanent outrage,” he said, and also claimed their private members’ Bills are “dangerous”.
He said Eoin Tennyson’s Bill aimed at banning gender or sexuality conversion practices in Northern Ireland was “so badly drafted that parents would need a KC at the kitchen table to have decent conversations with a young person about sensitive issues that they face”.
He said Paula Bradshaw’s flags and emblems Bill was “dangerously naive” – and the Naomi Long’s leadership of the justice system has been “catastrophic” and that sentencing is too soft, bail is granted too easily and the slow pace puts off victims of sexual and domestic violence.
“The entire balance of rights is out of kilter. Police officers, we’re told, are too frightened to protect themselves for fear of being disciplined; prison officers breathe in inmates’ second-hand smoke because we are the only part of the UK where smoking in prisons has not been banned – the rights of the inmate seem to trump the rights of the prison officer.”
He added: “Is there a farmer in the land who has confidence in Andrew Muir,” to shouts of “no” from the audience.
“I say to those who voted Alliance, if you want to support a party that believes in the whole of Northern Ireland, but that has competence and common sense, come home to the Ulster Unionist Party.”
Mr Burrows also paid tribute to the bravery of the victims of former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson for coming forward. Donaldson, 63, was convicted of 18 sex offences, including one count of rape, relating to the abuse of two women when they were children. The offences were committed between 1985 and 2008.
“Jeffrey Donaldson was a vile paedophile, and he was a political fraud,” Mr Burrows said.
“I hope he spends a very long time behind bars. I want to be pay tribute to the victims who had the courage and the resilience to give the evidence that convicted him. I know from my old professional life just how difficult and invasive and traumatic it is to go into a adversarial legal system and put into sworn evidence the most difficult times of your life. Those who did did not just get justice for themselves, I think they have sent a message right across our country, that no matter how powerful you are, no matter what title you hold, you are accountable to the rule of law.”