"The opportunity existed over the summer to capitalise on the Ulster Unionists’ confused relationship with the DUP (latest example is the discussions on “Unionist Unity” in next year’s Belfast City Council elections revealed in today’s Newsletter), attract members, and start an Assembly Election campaign."
Yet the edict from Central office was:
"Instead, the party leadership opted to close the office, remove any staff, and tell local members not to campaign."
He is concerned by what has been developing in Scotland:
"The Scotsman newspaper, two weeks ago, claimed leader of the Conservatives in the Scottish Parliament, Annabel Goldie, had not spoken to David Cameron since May; her Liberal Democrat opposite number Tavish Scott went so far as to suggest that Cameron had not given Scotland a thought (‘He has a [LibDem] Scottish Secretary and that’s it’). I find both of these statements hard to believe, but nevertheless they seemed to go unchallenged. "
This leads him to the obvious question:
"...whether the Conservatives will ever again be able to form, on their own, a legitimate government for the whole of the UK."
Perhaps the time is approaching when the penny will drop that the talk from Cameron and the Tories was just that. They never meant it and their actions post-election are the proof of that.
UPDATED: Ian's response to this blogpost here (plus tidied up a few typos my apologies for my consistent failure to use the spell-checker before I hit send).
UPDATED: Ian's response to this blogpost here (plus tidied up a few typos my apologies for my consistent failure to use the spell-checker before I hit send).
1 comment:
I often find that when someone rushes to correct typos (particularly on-line) it demonstrates a certain insecurity in their own position. Poor Ian: he put in a decent performance in the Euros and would have had a shot at a second APNI seat (gain from Green) in North Down. Instead he was allured by "Call Me Dave" and has discovered what all of us always knew: you can't trust the Tories.
I predict that before long the UUP will have a new applicant for membership in North Down.
Post a Comment