Ken Clarke's Clanger
Sir Reg Empey didn't have a bad day yesterday - David Cameron's visit helped rouse his party from the bout of depression it will have suffered when mulling over the Belfast Telegraph poll. Then in the evening he didn't do badly in the BBC NI Leaders' debate, trying, as I pointed out here to run his achilles heel over devolving justice into a strong point.
But the problem of getting together with another party is that you can never legislate for what someone might say out of your earshot. So in today's Daily Telegraph story it's Ken Clarke who comes up with the choice quote, "in the end you can always do a deal with an Ulsterman, but it's not the way to run a modern, sophisticated society."
Is this the way the Tories really think about Northern Ireland, or should voters trust to David Cameron's avowed "passion" for Ulster's place in the Union instead? The only silver lining for UCUNF may be that Mr Clarke's comments have come so late in the day that their opponents won't be able to make as much traction with them as would otherwise be the case.
UPDATE: Here's the Conservative line on the clanger: "Ken Clarke was clearly referring to the DUP who, along with their Scottish and Welsh Nationalist allies, have been campaigning at this election for the economic and political instability of a hung parliament. David Cameron was in Northern Ireland campaigning for Conservative and Unionis candidates to be at the heart of a Conservative and Unionist government. There is only one real unionist party standing at this election - the Conservatives and Unionists".
I'm 
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~01~RS~)
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I decided not to dignify your blog with a reply, then I changed my mind.
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Ken Clarke can always be relied on for good copy.
As far as I can see it Cameron has two options, assuming he gets close to a majority.
Form a concensus with both the UUP & DUP much like John Major did and rely on Labour, the Lib Dems and the various Nationalist Parties in Scotland, Wales & Ulster being unable to get a 100% vote against in any confidence motion.
Secondly have to make promises to the Nationalists as well which will probably involve greater powers in Cardiff and a referendum on independence for Scotland.
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Mark
This one night stand is all and good on the night. The UUP will soon discover how degrading the walk of shame really is!!! The morning after the night before, when reg is looking for his knickers, Cameron will be lying on his belly, content with his actions. And not a care for the one bolting out the door in shame.
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This is from J.C. Beckett, writing about unionist opposition in Ulster to home rule, in 1886, explaining Tory eagerness to jump into bed with them as the opposition was mutual:
"The alliance thus formed was an enduring one. It yielded some electoral profit to the conservatives; but, in the end, they found it a dangerous embarrasment. To Ulster protestants it proved an encouragement... to press their claims to the uttermost".
Do things ever really change?
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The Home Rule bill of 1886 was opposed by the Conservative party in England. They were sympathetic to the Anglo-Irish/unionist population. A prominent Tory politician, Randolph Churchill, claimed that Ireland was not one, but two countries. He viewed home rule to be dangerous. "Why should an Imperial parliament grant a native parliament to rule over the unionist population, when they had only revulsion for such a move?". He exploited the fears of the Irish unionists, who were by now mostly in the North East of Ireland. He declared in a speech that “Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right”. The bill was defeated by thirty votes in the Commons and caused a split in the Liberal party; Liberal unionists voted with the Conservatives to defeat the bill.
The general election in 1892 gave the Liberals and Gladstone a shock. He could only gain a majority by securing the votes of the Irish Parliamentary party. The unionist liberal MPs had by now sided with the Conservatives.
Pacts, it would seem go both ways!!!
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We should be grateful to Ken Clarke for his timely reminder of exactly what "Ulster's place in the Union" (Cameron) is. Clearly in Clarke's view, a backward and unsophisticated society, andf no self-respecting Englishman gets involved. A timely wake-up call to Unionists - no matter what flag we wave in Northern Ireland, we're just not really British. Relief. Thanks Ken.
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RT_Philanthropist
We're all just inferior Paddies.
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