New generation of unionists to build UK-wide network at ‘Shared Heritage, Shared Future’ with Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland
A new generation of unionists are to attend a conference in Edinburgh to discuss strategy on how to network and strengthen the bonds between the nations of the UK.
DUP MLAs Phillip Brett, Diane Forsythe, Cheryl Brownlee and David Brooks will travel to Scotland to take part in the ‘Shared Heritage, Shared Future’ summit with the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland on Thursday.
The summit will be chaired by Dr Marie Macklin CBE, a high profile Scottish businesswoman who said she was “proud and honoured” to have been asked to lead the event.
It is billed as bringing together voices from Northern Ireland and Scotland to “celebrate the deep historical and cultural connections” while looking towards “greater cooperation” in the future.
North Belfast MLA Phillip Brett told the News Letter that the conference will focus on building strategy and helping like-minded activists in Scotland “upscale” their work.
Also under discussion will be how to link up with like-minded politicians and activists in England and Wales.
The DUP revealed the plans just after Sinn Fein made headlines this week by signing a memorandum of understanding with the SNP and Plaid Cymru in a bid to put pressure on the UK Government to call unity referendums across the home nations.
“We got an invitation to come from the Orange Order in Scotland around July, so it has been a long-standing commitment in my diary - not something arranged in response to events this week,” Mr Brett told the News Letter.
“It is really an inaugural conference organised by the Orange Order in Scotland on shared heritage, shared future, to which DUP representatives have been invited.”
“Our aim is to go over and help some people in the Orange in Scotland develop and upscale.”
It is understood that further plans may well include meeting with like-minded MSPs.
Asked whether there would be a Welsh and English dimension to the plans, he replied that this will be one of the subjects under discussion during the Edinburgh conference.
While some parties in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland do want to break up the UK, there are others in the home nations with contrary views that will want to strengthen the UK’s union, he said.
Mr Brett said it is an “exciting time” for unionists and that across the UK, assumptions about the “inevitable” advance of nationalism are being challenged.
“In Scotland we have seen support for the SNP fall sharply,” he said. “In Northern Ireland, despite decades of predictions about the inevitable advance of nationalism, the vote share for nationalist parties has not increased since 1998.
“At the same time, new voices are stepping forward within Unionism. A new generation is ready to make the case for our United Kingdom with confidence, optimism and ambition.”
The contrast with nationalism could not be clearer, he said.
Nationalist leaders may gather in Wales to discuss how to work together to “dismantle” the UK, he said.
“At a time when people across Northern Ireland want political leaders focused on delivering better public services, growing our economy and tackling the challenges facing families and businesses, those nationalist parties are once again prioritising constitutional agitation.
“They can travel to Cardiff to talk about breaking up our country. We will travel to Scotland to build the relationships that strengthen it.”