tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post3429377482670524639..comments2024-03-04T17:54:32.559+00:00Comments on Iain Dale's Diary: Ulster Unionists & Conservatives Join ForcesIain Dalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03270146219458384372noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-34640829004523686422008-11-22T03:06:00.000+00:002008-11-22T03:06:00.000+00:00From a Northern Irish perspective, this may or may...From a Northern Irish perspective, this may or may not seem a hopeful prospect. But from an English perspective, it just looks like the Tories replacing the West Lothian Question with the Ulster Question: attempting to create or inflate a UK-parliamentary majority that will be used to push through England-only bills that non-English MPs have no business voting about. It'll be used to demonstrate that the Tories are not an England-only party by at least giving them some representation from N. Ireland to offset their likely electoral annihilation in Scotland and possibly Wales.<BR/><BR/>Why don't we just call the combined party 'the Conservative (England) and Unionist (Northern Ireland) Party': English unionists shoring up the defences as Scotland and Wales desert the cause.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-2684788774431903572008-11-22T01:07:00.000+00:002008-11-22T01:07:00.000+00:00the SDLP is a socialist and irish nationalist part...the SDLP is a socialist and irish nationalist party not a UK nationalist party. <BR/><BR/>If it links with Labour it becomes a unionist party and will have sold out on its irishness -any fool, regardless of agreemnt or disagreemet with the irish project, can see that<BR/><BR/>FF will only be interested in the SDLP to stop Sinn Fein if SF beocme an issue in the South again<BR/><BR/>SDLP leadership is courted and treated with respect by FF if it is incorporated within FF they will be no more important than Offlay FF.<BR/><BR/>So not being a UK entity and SDLP egos with a weak SF in the South<BR/>means the SDLP does not joing FF but remains as it is at the mercy, like any party, of the electoral windsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-39210405688523961842008-11-21T22:56:00.000+00:002008-11-21T22:56:00.000+00:00Why the Tory fetish with the UUP? A broken party ...Why the Tory fetish with the UUP? A broken party whose sectarian rule over 50 years largely contributed to the outbreak of the Troubles in the first place. They are not even major players in Ulster politics now and no one in England save a few loons cares about NI so where is the benefit?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-19020402168659228042008-11-21T20:53:00.000+00:002008-11-21T20:53:00.000+00:00Uhm, given the demographic projections for a Catho...Uhm, given the demographic projections for a Catholic voting majority within the next few decades in the province, shouldn't the Ulster Unionists be debating whether they'd prefer to join with Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael?Raedwaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11699610899843349594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-15205295904281075212008-11-21T20:37:00.000+00:002008-11-21T20:37:00.000+00:00Talking of Adams and Mcguiness, why are people hou...Talking of Adams and Mcguiness, why are people hounding BNP members when terrorists can take seats at Westminster?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-68741734207667964922008-11-21T20:24:00.000+00:002008-11-21T20:24:00.000+00:00Well Desperate dan ,do you know what anniversry co...Well Desperate dan ,do you know what anniversry comes around now.<BR/>The 1974 Birmingham bombs ,when 21 <BR/>young people were butchered .(Don't<BR/>know if any were Rangers!,but i'm sure the bombers wern't).<BR/>Republicans better looking !,i <BR/>think Adams and Mcguiness would struggle to qualify for Mr, <BR/>Neanderthal world.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-30550040699789939242008-11-21T20:20:00.000+00:002008-11-21T20:20:00.000+00:00There goes the west lothian and English question t...There goes the west lothian and English question then?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-24127040442026465262008-11-21T19:39:00.000+00:002008-11-21T19:39:00.000+00:00For those who say they are a fringe group and on t...For those who say they are a fringe group and on the wane I would point out that the Ni Tories negotiated this deal after approaches to them by UU members.<BR/>The Joint Committee will have 4 UUs and 4 NORTHERN IRELAND Conservatives<BR/>As for the lack of correlation - the party vote virtually unanimously to do a deal with the Conservatives. <BR/>I hope that the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats do the decent thing and organise in NI and provide a home for themAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-83614232986192958572008-11-21T19:17:00.000+00:002008-11-21T19:17:00.000+00:00As a Northern Irish born Scottish Liberal Democrat...As a Northern Irish born Scottish Liberal Democrat with an English University Education with Donegal roots on three grandparental lines, may I just reiterate what Cranmer says it would have to be Northern Irish Conservatives of Conservative Party of Northern Ireland and not use the term Ulster in the title. Or it would be a backward step.<BR/><BR/>Although those of my anticendents who signed the Ulster Covenant in Donegal would probably be more een on the idea than I.Stephen Glennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03027718551675624433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-27344149465092336882008-11-21T18:53:00.000+00:002008-11-21T18:53:00.000+00:00Re attracting the best people. What happens when L...Re attracting the best people. What happens when London starts parachuting A-listers into Ulster seats?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-65107543665343624132008-11-21T18:39:00.000+00:002008-11-21T18:39:00.000+00:00If Cranmer's right...Gosh.There is doubt?It is not...<I>If Cranmer's right...</I><BR/><BR/>Gosh.<BR/><BR/>There is doubt?<BR/><BR/>It is not often His Grace sees his name preceded by the conditional conjunction.Archbishop Cranmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16817505540390495385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-42987645029341642442008-11-21T18:25:00.000+00:002008-11-21T18:25:00.000+00:00Yeah .High time England had a Conservative party i...Yeah .High time England had a Conservative party instead of always being taken for granted and gathered up in this British stuffAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-28536666513578456172008-11-21T18:00:00.000+00:002008-11-21T18:00:00.000+00:00"Ulster Conservatives was as good a compromise as ..."Ulster Conservatives was as good a compromise as any. After all, we have the Scottish and Welsh Conservatives."<BR/><BR/>Does this mean they might also create English Conservatives? Or are we just going to be taken for granted, as per?Terry Heathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08613235351379818011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-17415959233151569222008-11-21T17:44:00.000+00:002008-11-21T17:44:00.000+00:00If Cranmer's right, and Ulster Conservatives will ...If Cranmer's right, and Ulster Conservatives will cause a ruckus, then, how about calling them Irish Conservatives and making it a cross-border effort? It just might help reshape the tired, chummy politics in the Republic as it reforms the sectarian politics of Northern Ireland.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-18578822488098260502008-11-21T17:22:00.000+00:002008-11-21T17:22:00.000+00:00The Good Friday Agreement isnt working. Its a farc...The Good Friday Agreement isnt working. Its a farce.<BR/><BR/>That said, I welcome the link, though I hope to God its not the same tired old faces of the UUP who will be standing as candidates here under a UUP/Conservative banner. Half-hearted measures will see the electorate shun the new set-up. We need the full force of the Conservative Party to make it effective....in all areas of politics too.<BR/>Assembly, local, Westminster and Europe. No ifs, no buts...do it right this time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-67034364957628685172008-11-21T17:08:00.001+00:002008-11-21T17:08:00.001+00:00Anonymous: The UUP has had many LGBT members, incl...Anonymous: The UUP has had many LGBT members, including some quite prominent ones, and were spitting blood over Iris Robison's bigotry.<BR/><BR/>This is a good move in general but don't expect an SDLP/Labour link-up. The SDLP has long had divisions over whether it's a social democratic or nationalist party and to a large extent it's chosen the latter course despite still being members of Socialist International and taking the Labour whip. Virtually all the talk of them joining up with a party in the Republic has been about Fianna Fail, not (Irish) Labour, and most of the would-be (UK) Labour activists in the province tend to be pro Union.Tim Roll-Pickeringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12589024696145675963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-32355511534490417322008-11-21T17:08:00.000+00:002008-11-21T17:08:00.000+00:00Does that mean Lord Trimble will now rejoin the UU...Does that mean Lord Trimble will now rejoin the UUP?Blackacrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15808024417861534968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-43710695372585814172008-11-21T17:04:00.000+00:002008-11-21T17:04:00.000+00:00This agreement would appear little different from ...This agreement would appear little different from the same agreement that existed before 1972.<BR/><BR/>It also reinforces the image of the UUP being weak and getting weaker.<BR/><BR/>As for the SDLP they're a nationalist party so there's little liklihood of them joining a UK party. The talk has actually been about them allying or becoming part of Fianna Fail.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-53511292181634503682008-11-21T16:56:00.000+00:002008-11-21T16:56:00.000+00:00I'm not sure how this addresses the obvious lack o...I'm not sure how this addresses the obvious lack of correlation. A unionist is not necessarily a conservative (the late Harold McCusker springs to mind, not to mention the sole current MP Sylvia Hermon who has voted regularly with the government). The Labour/SDLP analogy is even more flawed as it proceeds on the premise that nationaist will identify with a UK party. If SDLP merges it will almost certainly be with Fianna Fail. The UUP no doubt gets some spurious sense of relevance out of this but I don't see the upside for the tories. One extra MP at the expense of an almost unlimited potential for embarassment and I suspect a substantial loss in terms of mainland Irish voters.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-56340279141532725642008-11-21T16:40:00.000+00:002008-11-21T16:40:00.000+00:00The NI Conservatives are a fringe group and it is ...The NI Conservatives are a fringe group and it is the Ulster Unionist Party(UUP) that is on the wane.I doubt whether this agreement will change its fortunes.<BR/>There are,as Owen Paterson rightly says,those who are alienated who want to influence national Government-the one in Dublin.Manfaranghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16672026288937285646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-70964397527494073992008-11-21T16:08:00.000+00:002008-11-21T16:08:00.000+00:00No I don't welcome it. I've always preferred the ...No I don't welcome it. I've always preferred the Republicans. They're better looking; have better songs and jokes and literature; they're not so shouty; they have better graffiti; they've historically been unfairly discriminated against; I can't stand Rangers supporters; I don't think they were involved with the Kinkora Boys Home; Unionists aren't much fun.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-12557594262626807092008-11-21T16:02:00.000+00:002008-11-21T16:02:00.000+00:00I'm sure our Northern Ireland Branch would welcome...I'm sure our Northern Ireland Branch would welcome a more formal agreement with my Alliance bretheren, it really would be an end of sectarian politics once things like the current politics in Northern Ireland is devided by bread and butter policy issues rather that quasi religious allegiences.Stephen Glennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03027718551675624433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-79024854693980859752008-11-21T15:44:00.000+00:002008-11-21T15:44:00.000+00:00'Ulster Conservatives' would open up a can of very...'Ulster Conservatives' would open up a can of very offensive (or very offended) worms.<BR/><BR/>Ulster is not a synonym for Northern Ireland. The voters of Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan would be - to say the least - somewhat confused by the term 'Ulster Conservatives'.Archbishop Cranmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16817505540390495385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-53573763885724256912008-11-21T15:27:00.001+00:002008-11-21T15:27:00.001+00:00Iain, agreed. I believe things are moving forward....Iain, agreed. I believe things are moving forward. I believe that a lot of people are still cling to the past, why not , it worked for a lot of people. They gained political careers and money out of sectarianism. I think people here are tired of that, and are thirsting for something more, something different. I certainly hope FF will come on the scene in a big way also.<BR/><BR/>Hopefully it signals a new dawn. One can only hope. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6214838.post-85628557006574993432008-11-21T15:27:00.000+00:002008-11-21T15:27:00.000+00:00So are these UU OK about Gays Iain, or do they rec...So are these UU OK about Gays Iain, or do they recommend the Edward the Second solution?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com