Whilst waiting in an Airport in Scotland yesterday I bought a newspaper to pass the time. I chose the Telegraph and was very interested in this.
To use his own words, the Union has now become Mr Cameron’s “top priority”. Whilst on the mainland they might be asking exactly how many top priorities a Leader of the Opposition can have ( the NHS, Environment?) I will focus on the Union aspect of the speech.
It would be something of a formality for me as a unionist to welcome the statement, as unionism needs all the allies it can get, but my gut instinct is one of suspicion. I ask, exactly why is The Union a priority at all? I am worried that it needs to be, and the sooner the public gets back to believing the Union is an assumed fact of everyday life, the better.
But that’s not going to happen anytime soon is it? With nationalists, who seek to destroy our country, in all niches of government the Union is, sadly, a matter for dispute. In addition to this, some Englishmen feel injusticed that they have the lowest spending per head, whilst public services aren’t a shadow of those in Scotland or Wales.
English nationalism is, most probably, the greatest threat to the Union at the moment. I am relieved that the Conservatives, broadly speaking a very English based party has not succumbed to the easy option here. Matters are not made any better by our own first minister flirting with the nationalist Alex Salmond MP MSP in some sort of attempt to extract more money from the treasury and fuel further resentment.
Now David Cameron is not the only well known national politician to try the patriotic line. The Prime Minister has spoken of ‘Britishness’ quite often of late.Yet this variety is of the England/Scotland/Wales variety, and quite often, we in Northern Ireland aren’t given a second thought. Mr Cameron neither mentions Northern Ireland specifically, but the Telegraph reports that “His feelings to England, Scotland, Wales and Ulster are particularly warm” and his party are trying to organise here, so on the whole, Unionism has something of an ally on the other side of the Irish Sea, which must be developed.
Whilst my initial reaction to Unionism being an issue was hostile, I now believe that whilst the entire population of the UK are now interested in it, there is an opportunity available to Northern Ireland Unionists. Make a positive case for the union – people are interested, so don’t the chance slip by before it’s too late
