Thursday, January 20, 2011

Unionist "Unity". Slowly but surely, it comes to pass...

Not that big a surprise:
THE DUP and UUP have struck a deal to work together in North and West Belfast ahead of May's council and assembly elections.

Despite UUP leader Tom Elliott ruling out any form of province-wide agreement with the DUP, the local deal shows that there is still considerable support in parts of the UUP for an arrangement with the party's larger unionist rival.

In a joint UUP-DUP statement to the News Letter and the Shankill Mirror, the two parties said that they would work together and set up joint working groups to discuss issues of mutual concern.
One wonders how Paterson and the Conservative Party on the mainland are viewing their indirect(?) involvement in the link-up. Or am I being naive and they're also fully up to date and comfortable with the implications of the *deal*?

Also is there a significance in the non-appearance in the group-photo of Bill Manwaring, the Conservative and UUP's candidate in the last West Belfast General Election and supposedly the UUP's candidate in the Assembly election?

Is his Unionism too inclusive to be included in the "new arrangement"?

2 comments:

thedissenter said...

May have more to do with rumours of community candidates in the area who feel all unionist reps have let them down. May be that only interest in mind is self-preservation. Article almost ready.

O'Neill said...

Well, what is Unionist Unity if not "self-preservation"?

Look forward to the article.