“As the TUV and Reform try to cover their tracks in the part which they intend to play in reducing unionist representation at Westminster, potentially handing seats to the Alliance Party and giving Sinn Fein the propaganda of being the largest party after the next election, they have sought to brand the DUP as not being real unionists.
It is ironic that this allegation comes from an Englishman who voted for the Northern Ireland Protocol in the European Parliament and who has made no attempt to hide the fact that he believes the intervention of his party will cost unionism seats.
The TUV know full well that seats will not be won by another unionist, but will go to parties who oppose the Union and ironically, support the rigorous implementation of the Protocol and the Windsor Framework.
Even some of the TUV representatives, such as David Clarke, seem to be so consumed with their personal bitterness against the DUP that they have openly declared that they would vote for the Alliance Party to see the DUP defeated.
I have honestly expressed my concerns and views on the issues in relation to the continued existence of border restrictions on the Irish Sea and the affront to democracy and the Union of having EU law imposed without consent on Northern Ireland. I will continue to raise those concerns but regardless of that the DUP is more committed to the Union than those who would wilfully, deliberately and damagingly weaken Unionist representation at Westminster by splitting the vote in seats that on all previous evidence they know they have no chance of winning.
Even the least aware unionist will know that you don’t improve the Unionist position by taking one step backward i.e. depriving more unionists of real representation in Parliament in the hope that sometime in the future this may enable you to take two steps forward. What an absurd and self destructive plan.
Sinn Fein will be cheering and will use the propaganda which these short sighted scorched-earth policies will result in. The new political arrangement has been described as the TUV/Reform Alliance. The only winner will be the Alliance Party.
I would remind Ben Habib and Richard Tice that many of us in the DUP have been unionist representatives when it was dangerous to be so. Our unionist principles have not diminished in anyway and we certainly would never countenance, giving the enemies of unionism one extra vote or one extra seat.
I am pleased that it is already becoming clear that Unionists throughout Northern Ireland are wise to the nonsense being peddled by those whose only purpose is to divide and wreck”