Arlene Foster was on The Andrew Marr TV show this morning, dressed in eye-catching red, explaining why the DUP is a force for good in the universe.
Her major message was that our NEN mustn’t be treated or categorized any differently from the rest of the UK. That’s her “red line” – the NEN must move “in lock-step with the rest of the UK”. This is fearfully important, she explained, because 72% of NEN trade goes to Mother Britain.
Andrew Marr raised the tricky matter of Arlene saying that Michel Barnier wasn’t an honest broker. Unfortunately, he didn’t see the absurdity of expecting Barnier to be an honest broker – in other words, a neutral arbiter. FFS, Arlene – Barnier represents the EU, one side in the dispute. Your man David Davis represents the other, the UK. Barnier would be replaced and rightly hustled off to an institution with high walls and padded rooms if he started to play the neutral-arbiter part. Alas, Marr didn’t point that out.
Instead, Arlene got to talk about the injustice of the EU is saying it’s up to the UK to deliver a solution to the situation. How very wrong of them, Arlene figured: both sides involved in negotiation need to look for a way out of this. Again, Marr didn’t point out that the border under dispute in Ireland is a British border, imposed by them with the threat of immediate and terrible war if any of paddies tried going for anything else. Maybe Andrew needs a history lesson.
There was lots more, but towards the end Marr noted that Mary Lou, Sinn Féin’s new leader, had used the term “Londonderry”, another example of republicans reaching out to unionism. Would the DUP be making a reciprocal gesture? (Virginia – take that cat out, would you? I think it’s having a fit.)
No, no, Arlene explained. That was just verbal. What Sinn Féin need to do is act, not talk. For example, they should sign up to the Military Covenant, instead of politicizing the Irish language and trying to impose it on everyone in Northern Ireland.
No wonder the Cliftonville team stood with bowed heads yesterday. After ten minutes of Arlene on telly, I feel like sticking my head in a bucket three times, as we used to say, and taking it out twice.
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