Rhetoric, Contradictions, and the UUP

Luke Callianan
Toby Mannion Cumann
Ógra Ros Comáin Theas (in exile)

The next 3 weeks or so in the run up to the election of a new Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader will be mind-numbing if recent events are anything to go by. The Waterfront Hall in Belfast, which was officially opened by Charlie G (aka Prince of Wales) in 1997, is the chosen venue for the selection of Reg Empey’s successor. So far, two candidates have said they will contest the leadership of the party – MLA for Lagan Valley Basil McCrea and MLA for Fermanagh South Tyrone Tom Elliot.

On a quick analysis of statements circulated by the two candidates in the aftermath of their official announcements it would seem that there isn’t a whole lot of substance to the utterances made by them. However, the battle for UUP supremo is firmly cemented around one major issue, the UUP’s commitment to changing legislation so that Martin McGuinness - or any other Sinn Féin politician for that matter - cannot take the position of First Minister if and when Sinn Féin receive the largest number of votes at the next Assembly election.

Mr. Elliott described the proposed situation in an article for the News Letter as a ‘potential disaster’ which was the result of a deal at St. Andrews between the DUP and Sinn Féin. In fact Mr. Elliott’s colleague Fred Cobain - UUP MLA for North Belfast and the party’s Chief Whip – went one step further on Friday when he insisted that if ‘the Conservative Party reneges on its commitments’ to change the existing legislation, the UUP may ‘be forced into a position of having to work with the DUP in some sort of electoral arrangement’.

Just two points to make on this – first of all, how do the UUP expect to overturn a decision which was made by the two largest parties in the 6 counties only a couple of years ago? Especially considering that the UUP are now void of any elected MP’s and received only 15% of the vote in the most recent Westminster election leaving them trailing behind Sinn Féin, DUP and SDLP? Furthermore, how does this fit in with Tom Elliot’s claims that there that will be no electoral pacts with the DUP ‘as clumping everyone together would only turn many people off from the political process’? Maybe Basil McCrea is correct when he says that the electorate is ‘unsure what the UUP stands for’?

In any case, the attitude of the Ulster Unionists is perfectly summed up by Fred Cobain when he declares that if Martin McGuinness takes the position of First Minister after the next general election it will result in ‘a return to sectarian headcounts and deep divisions’. Ironic, to say the least. In the most recent Westminster elections Sinn Féin received 171,942 votes and became the largest party in the 6 counties. It has a bigger mandate than any other party across the 6 counties at present. The UUP talk about protecting the Union and spout rhetoric about a better society within that Union while Sinn Féin work on the ground for ordinary people and root their policies in reality.

It has been through achievements such as the introduction of Michelle Gildernew's Forestry Bill to overhaul the management of forests in a way that creates significant employment opportunities as well as the extension of free bus and rail travel to 60-64 year olds and the investment of hundreds of millions into rural development programmes and farm modernisation that Sinn Féin has built this strong electoral base. Put simply, by bringing the equality agenda to the table. Why shouldn’t the party who look after those on the fringes of society and receive the largest mandate have the biggest input?

However, it is also clear on deeper examination, that there are some more points both candidates wish to make in the interest of vague rhetoric. Last Monday, 23rd August, Tom Elliot said that he ‘like many unionists’ wants to see ‘a Union in which everyone can have ambitions and opportunities to work to better themselves economically and provide for their families; a Union which is prosperous, and which supports our businesses and farms rather than impeding them; a Union which protects the rights of the most vulnerable in our society, and provides for our children and older people.’ Unfortunately Tom omits a vital component to this romantic discourse. He fails to provide any explanation of how he, or the UUP, will go about constructing this flawless Union.

The fact is that due to a lack of any fiscal control and the imposition of a completely unfair Barnett Formula whereby funding is provided to the 6 counties from Britain based on population opposed to need it is impossible for elected representatives to make the required adjustments in order to bring about such a society within a union context. Interestingly enough, no consensus has ever been reached on how to change the Barnett Formula and in their publication The Fiscal Crisis of the United Kingdom, Iain McLean and Alistair McMillan argue that neither Barnett nor needs-based spending is incentive-compatible. Neither, that is, gives the North an incentive to become economically efficient. Therfore, while a needs based-system would be preferable to the deeply flawed Barnett Formula it is still not a viable long-term option.


What other options are available and will work in the long-term? Economic sovereignty. The absence of this constitutes a massive obstacle to economic development and quality public service provision. To obtain economic sovereignty, a range of alterations would be made including the repatriation of taxation powers to the Assembly and Executive, the replacement of the Reform and Reinvestment Initiative (RRI) by an Executive borrowing service, All-Ireland harmonisation of the public finance regimes and the replacement of rates with a system of progressive taxation.

There are some positives in statements made by Basil McCrea where he asserts that the UUP ‘must offer candidates that reflect and relate to the widest possible section of the electorate. It must realise that electorate has moved on’ and that it ‘must develop a new vision for unionism – inclusive, positive and pluralist’. However what exactly this new vision is I am not sure. He also maintains that the UUP must ‘capture the mood within the electorate for change’.

Now there’s a big one. What change is he talking about? An end to Ulster Unionists doing shady deals with the Orange Orders in an effort to oust a democratically elected woman who has worked hard for her constituency, bringing us back to the days of sectarian head counts and deep divisions within communities that Mr. Elliot talks of? An end to the UUP policy of ‘oppose whatever it is the DUP are’? Or an end to the Union with Britain and the right for Irish people – be they Unionist or Republican – to have a real say in the running of their Island? I’m not sure what other changes could be seen as progressive.
















I will leave the two candidates with a quote from American singer-song writer Rosanne Cash (Eldest daughter of the late musician Johnny Cash): ‘The key to change, is to let go of fear’