Northern Irish Unionism can blame no one but itself for the predicament it is in at this very moment. It wasn’t involved nearly as much in the Windsor Framework negotiations clearly due to the fact that when the DUP was in a king-maker role in Westminster during the Protocol negotiations, it exerted so much power and bullied the government to such an extent that the mess made was so great that in reality, NI Unionism felt it walked away with nothing from the negotiations and NEI got a great deal out of it all. In essence, the British government was essentially negotiating at the behest of the DUP and pretty much needed its permission to sign anything.
In that, we see the problem for the DUP and NI Unionism. For them, it is all about keeping the UK together and to hell with everything else, even if it is a great deal for trade, jobs, and the good of everyone here on this little island of ours. Lest we forget, Jeffrey Donaldson claimed he could live with 40,000 job losses in NEI in a bid to get Brexit sorted and the Windsor Framework is still part of the outworkings of that.
That’s not Sir Jeff’s only issue as leader of the DUP. Whispers have been heard, that the DUP may go back into Stormont after it emerged the UK government may be offering them a deal to do so (just a heads up, it’ll probably be lots and lots of dosh). The thing is, even if Jeffrey wanted to go back into Stormont, there are personalities in his own party, and I don’t need to name them as we all know who they are, who consistently drop onto the airwaves and the media denouncing any and all attempts to pressure the DUP back to Stormont – something I’d say Jeffrey Donaldson is somewhat miffed at. Jeffrey knows he has damaged his party by walking out of Stormont and staying out for such a long period of time and make no mistake, there are many Unionists not happy with the DUP for doing so.
Mike Nesbitt yesterday described the DUP being AWOL from Stormont as being – “quite close to an existential threat to the future of Northern Ireland” and he’s right, the longer the DUP stays out of government, the more damage it does to the Union. However, the DUP has an issue with getting back into Stormont, in fact, it has 2 specifically. One is called Jamie Bryson, and the other is Jim Allister. Jamie Bryson has positioned himself, especially within Loyalism as some kind of adviser (God knows how) and for some reason Bryson is actually taken seriously within certain circles in Unionism. There were, at a time claims that Bryson was talking with Jeffrey Donalson on a daily basis, certainly on a weekly basis – something both Bryson and Donalson deny. Jim Allister has positioned himself in such a way that if the DUP so much as step outside of what he wants it to do, he’ll claim the DUP is turning its back on the Union. Essentially, Jim Allister is almost poking a prodding the DUP in the direction he wants them to go. With Bryson and Allister both poking a prodding at Jeffrey Donaldson and the DUP, they’re quite the formidable force.
To the British, the DUP and its Unionists and Loyalist hangers-on are akin to a petulant child stamping its feet in a tantrum because it can’t get what it wants and to an extent they’re right. Northern Irish Unionism has been so used to getting what it wants from the British government that when there came the time that they were given their marching orders and in no uncertain terms, told to back off, they didn’t know how to act so took to stamping feet and shouting about what they want to a mother government who really couldn’t care less about a minority while the majority were happy enough with both the Protocol and the Windsor Framework.
England, Scotland, and Wales would give their right leg for a deal like the Windsor Framework and have said as much. Rishi Sunak came over to the Coca-Cola plant in Lisburn boasting that NEi would have unfettered access to the EU single market and the UK market, something many other countries would die for…but no, NI Unionism has a selfish trait which is just can’t shake. I’m no fan of Sunak, he’s a rich man at the top of his career and he’ll do anything to stay there but in this he is right, we have a chance to make NEI great and the ironic thing is, as I’ve said before – NI Unionism is killing its own country, it’s destroying that which it claims to hold dear and nationalists haven’t had to lift a finger for the past three years.
I heard Ben Lowry on Sunday Politics trumpeting the lie that SF closed the northern assembly down for three years, it was the DUP at the behest of the Orange Order who reneged on a deal after one year. Bryson and Allister were of course keeping an eye on Jeffrey and co. Unionists come across as terribly needy, always demanding outward shows of love from their British masters, who treat them like dirt, not surprisingly. Sad.