Liz Truss: Arlene Foster helps Belfast launch of new pro-Union foundation Together UK and praises new Tory leader

Speaking at the launch of the pro-Union lobby group Together UK Foundation, Mrs Foster said as a unionist she was happier that the former Foreign Secretary was in 10 Downing Street.

Dame Arlene told the News Letter: “I have said I preferred Liz Truss over Rishi Sunak because I think she not only understands the problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol, which are there for everybody to see, but emotionally she is very much more attached to the Union.

“She has described herself as a child of the Union and therefore I think that she feels in her heart more of a unionist.

“I look forward to engaging with the new prime minister in the coming weeks so that she can work with the Together UK Foundation.”

Mrs Foster earlier told the launch that the foundation’s main message to Ms Truss was “to promote the Union in a positive way”.

The aim of the new foundation, Dame Arlene said, was to convince people that “the UK has many benefits whether that is in defence, in the economy, culturally, socially, politically, all those benefits come from being inside the Union”.

The former leader of the DUP said that the foundation wanted to “put forward a positive, logical and rational case for the Union right across the UK taking that message to England, Wales and Scotland as well as Northern Ireland”.

She stressed that it was “very important” that the new group was non-party political.

“One of the benefits of being in the UK is that it is very inclusive and it takes in all shades of opinion. I was keen that this was reflected on our board and in everything we do. What we plan to do is look at the Union in a non-party political way.”

Among board members who attended the Together UK launch at the Grand Central Hotel in Belfast was the public relations expert Sheila Davidson who said she believed it can win support for the Union from people who don’t vote for traditional unionist parties or don’t vote at all.

Mrs Davidson said: “I like to think of myself as being in that kind of grouping. I voted all over the place in terms of political parties.

“So I don’t see myself as aligned in any party political way. But one thing I am absolutely clear on is that from my business background I understand that being part of the United Kingdom is a major advantage.”