Mark Brotherston has described the so-called ‘graduated response’ by unionist parties as “an abject failure”. The NI Conservatives’ spokesman also urged paramilitary groups, “to leave the stage and take up the challenge of becoming involved in constructive, left-right, UK politics”.
“This faltering ‘graduated response’ has demonstrated that ‘unionist unity’ is self-defeating and only serves to make parties look powerless”, Mark observed. “We’ve even witnessed the UPRG, which is still linked to the UDA, pointing out that the so-called ‘response’ has no momentum and that creating an opposition at Stormont is a far better long term solution for solving some of the more intractable problems in Northern Ireland.”
“The group is correct in its analysis. There’s no merit in unionists threatening to disrupt government or walk out of talks, at the hint of a crisis. Neither is there merit in creating a single unionist bloc, which serves only to prevent politics normalising in Northern Ireland and limits the potential to find support for the United Kingdom from all parts of our community.”
“This ‘graduated response’ was essentially hot air and its function was to consolidate the DUP and UUP. Those parties walked out of talks on the back of one contentious parade ruling and they should get back to some serious negotiating on issues around flags, parades and the past, which are holding our economy back.”
“As for groups like the UPRG, the paramilitaries to which they are linked need to leave the stage completely if our society is to move forward. We believe that the Conservative Party offers the best policies to revitalise deprived areas right across Northern Ireland, although, there are also options on the centre-left for those who do not agree, like the Labour Party. These are the broader political outlets that representatives within loyalist areas should be moving toward, if they want to really impact the prospects of those communities. It’s important for Northern Ireland to play a full role in UK politics, rather than becoming stuck in the self-defeating, tribal disputes of the past.”