By Trevor Ringland
This article appears in today's Belfast Telegraph as 'The Union's safe, so let's talk about the real issues'
A couple of years ago the Belfast Telegraph conducted the True Colours survey, with the aim of establishing whether the average voter in Northern Ireland lies to the right, left or centre of the traditional political spectrum. Not surprisingly it found that, as a rule, our opinions on society and economics are moderate and a little to the right of centre.
That suggests most of us believe in things like rewarding hard work and responsibility, protecting the vulnerable, encouraging strong families and building a strong, integrated community.
These are the key values of a centre-right party and they underpin all the NI Conservatives’ policies. While we think that they’re values which most people in Northern Ireland share, they’re not being reflected at Stormont by the current set of political parties.
There’s clearly a need for change in Northern Ireland politics. The constitutional issue has been settled for the foreseeable future and there is an appetite to leave behind wrangles about the border and address the day to day issues which make a real difference to people’s lives.
The old Orange and Green parties have proved consistently that they can’t deliver normal politics. Indeed they can’t even deliver on their stated constitutional objectives. A united Ireland has never been less likely, while so-called ‘unionist’ parties have managed to edge politics in Northern Ireland ever further from the UK mainstream.
That’s why yet another variation of the same old thing will not work. Another Ulster only, ‘Unionist Lite’ party, whether it is bit more moderate or not, cannot make the changes that we need. It can’t represent accurately the right of centre values of people in Northern Ireland.
NI Conservatives believe that we need an entirely fresh, centre-right approach. We’re a proud, distinctive and autonomous Northern Irish party, which is passionate about our place in the United Kingdom, and remains a full part of the UK Conservative Party family.
When we say we’re pro-Union, it’s not about ‘us and them’ or asserting the identity of one part of the community over another. It’s about a real commitment to offering voters in Northern Ireland a meaningful voice in UK wide politics. We want to make sure that voters’ voices are heard, get the most out of being in the UK and make a contribution to this great country. It’s about building the best Northern Ireland possible, inside a United Kingdom which is good for all its citizens and cementing good relationships across the island of Ireland.
A key to achieving that is to create jobs and grow the economy. The NI Conservatives believe that enterprise and entrepreneurship are the way to achieve that vision. We’re the only genuinely centre-right party locally, because we consistently emphasise that sustainable jobs and lasting wealth can only be produced by a vibrant private sector. We also recognise that companies are unlikely to invest in Northern Ireland unless they believe that there is a peaceful and harmonious society here.
The executive has failed to tackle division because the various ministers who make it up do what they think best for one part of the community, rather than all of it. Too often the result is that they let everyone down. That’s why we believe the debate needs to focus on tackling problems of all of us, rather than looking out for the perceived interests of Orange and Green. A happy, prosperous society will benefit us all.
Next year the NI Conservatives will field candidates at the European election and in the local government elections. Our representatives will take a new, centre-right, commonsense attitude to local issues, whether they’re decided in the council chamber or in the European Parliament. At the next Stormont elections we’ll offer voters the chance to transform politics at Assembly level too.
So there is a party which is committed to creating jobs, rewarding hard-work and providing Northern Ireland with an effective voice in the Westminster government and there is a party which is committed to the centre-right values which Northern Irish people espoused when they were asked about their ‘True Colours’. That party is the NI Conservatives.