The DUP’s attempt to turn racism into a border issue was political opportunism at its most transparent and least convincing. Faced with public anger over racist attacks, its instinct wasn’t to confront the prejudice on display but to reach for its favourite all-purpose explanation: the Irish Sea border.
It was a remarkable performance. Houses were attacked, families were intimidated, racist slogans appeared, and somehow the conversation was supposed to end up back at customs checks and constitutional arrangements. It was like watching someone respond to a fire alarm by complaining about parking regulations.
The problem wasn’t just that the argument was cynical. It was that it required people to ignore what they could see with their own eyes. Racism doesn’t become something else because a politician would prefer a different headline. A petrol bomb doesn’t turn into a policy paper if you squint hard enough.
The strategy also exposed a deeper weakness. The DUP has spent years treating the border as a universal explanation for every social, economic and political problem. At a certain point it starts to sound less like analysis and more like a party carrying around a hammer and insisting every crisis is a nail.
Even many people who dislike the post-Brexit arrangements could see the dodge for what it was. When communities are dealing with racist intimidation, they expect leadership. What they got instead was a political magician desperately waving one hand while hoping nobody noticed what was happening with the other.
The result was predictable. The argument landed with a thud because it asked people to suspend common sense. The public can usually tell the difference between a cause and a convenient excuse. The DUP seemed shocked to discover that this time, so could everyone else.
Any concerns at all about attacks on the working class communities from foreign men Jude? What if it had been a woman he attacked like that, or God forbid a child?
There’s been over 30 women murdered in Northern Ireland in the past number of years. I don’t recall the ‘patriots’ protesting on the streets for any of them.
There’s no doubt a conversation to be had re: immigration but tragically we have enough psychopaths of our own type murdering people here. Haven’t heard Farage or anyone comment on it. It seems there’s a narrative to be followed and you seem to dance to that tune.
There are none so blind as those who will not see. like Surveyor and co