Up the UCUNF!

"Treachery" declares Roy Garland, "never took up a cause they didn't betray" mutters Chris McGimpsey, brooding darkly in the corner. Utterances one would expect to hear at the TUV conference, yet the four zimmermen of the apocalypse harking back to Tory perfidy come from the supposedly progressive wing of the UUP.

One wonders whether a senior moment has inspired Garland's lurch to the right, seeing himself once again a youthful commander of Tara, seething at Stormont's prorogation to appease the Romanist foe. Otherwise it is difficult to appreciate what aspect of the Tory record he would consider treacherous. Roy is utterly committed to power-sharing, protested in favour of the Anglo-Irish Agreement and was the sole unionist to make a submission at the New Ireland Forum.

Garland is convinced the UCUNF project will damage the UUP in working class areas. Yet the working class vote is what cemented previous Conservative victories. A snide insinuation is made in the Irish News implying that when William Hague described Loyalist paramilitaries as thugs he was really referring to the unionist working class. Ironically Peter McCann, the Conservative nominee for south Belfast, has vigorously defended Garland and others from puerile attempts on behalf of the Alliance Party to portray them as bigots.

The crux of the matter revolves around whether the UUP should remain a broad church incorporating both left and right. This has been the situation for 80 years, failing both unionism and the UUP. Those on the left cannot find this a satisfactory arrangement; their views have been stifled in a party which advances centre-right policies.

Chris McGimpsey has spoken of setting up an alternative party to stand in opposition to UCUNF. His efforts would be better directed towards Labour, which is set to field candidates for the 2011 council elections. Unionists would be offered with a genuine left wing choice while being able to push a pro-union case where it is sorely needed.

We live in one of the most exciting polity's in the world; by needlessly cutting ourselves off from the British mainstream we squander one of the union's strongest selling points. People are interested, and want a say, in the major issues of the day; the war on terrorism; the NHS; immigration. The electorate tires of the stalemate and sectarian bickering at Stormont. Sir Reg Empey has risen to the challenge; can his internal critics do the same?