UUP now on Twitter. And are some people already losing sight of the point of C & U alignment?

Just a note to say that the much improved UUP online operation has now launched on Twitter.

Perhaps the party should also break its silence on exactly which form of the new name joint candidates will campaign under. There remains a degree of confusion.

To my mind it makes a great deal of sense to retain ‘Ulster‘, or indeed ‘New Force’ in the official title, yet to accord more prominence to the much less fussy ‘Conservatives and Unionists’.

Let’s not quibble over a word, which is rooted in the history of Irish unionism, but might after all be interpreted as an irredentist claim over three counties which are not within the UK.

Ulster Conservatives and Unionists or Conservatives and Unionists for the sake of brevity. The point is the message. It is frustrating that time is being lost putting that message across.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I agree Chekov. I've said before the name isn't a crux issue for me, but let's be realistic - it is for the UUP. I'm looking forward to campaigning and to some extent pontificating on it - but the launch has been over shadowed by what appears to be an individuals actions.
Anonymous said…
Ignited I understand that Sir Reg said at the end of the meeting the day to day name would be 'Conservatives and Unionists' is this what you mean about the launch being overshadowed by an indidviduals actions.

BTW I think it was great that Reg challenged the DUP to stand done in FST and Sth Belfast
Anonymous said…
I think Reg was very brave to drive through the naming in the way he did. Conservative and Unionist is the only way forward as the project is all about inclusion in national Party politics of the UK - did Tesco keep the Crazy Prices brand? Erm, no. The branding and naming is done. I really look forward to the Conservatives and Unionists kicking the crap out of the DUP.
Welcome to Twitter. I’ve included an RSS feed from it on my blog.
Personally, I think the "branding" is too cumbersome. Presumably, an effort will begin immediately to reduce it to CU's in daily usage. Anonymous raises a much more important issue than branding however, South Belfast and Fermanagh South Tyrone. The DUP will happily stand aside in one of these constituencies; we're just waiting for the CU's to decide which one and to reciprocate in the other.
Anonymous said…
My understanding David is that Conservatives and Unionists will be the name used. Hence www.conservativesandunionists.com
Anonymous said…
David Cather - your glorious idiot Lord Morrow said that as the DUP was the largest pro Union party in both in should be the Conservatives and Unionists who should stand aside?

I think that as the Conservatives and Unionists are the largest pro Union party in the UK the DUP should wise up. After all they have just over 1% of the vote in the UK.

Also it would be far better for both areas to have MPs who are likely to form part of the government of the UK - rather than being represented by the DUP whose image beyond NI is terrible
O'Neill said…
The DUP will happily stand aside in one of these constituencies; we're just waiting for the CU's to decide which one and to reciprocate in the other.

David,

Have the Labour Party and Conservative party made pacts in Scotland or Wales in order to prevent each respective country's separatists from winning seats? No and the reason why not is that, although they may agree on the Union and probably other matters, they hold completely different political philosophies.

There's no point declaring that you are hoping to break the mould of traditional communal politics in NI, if you then go right ahead and do the traditional communal thing just to make sure themumns don't win.
This comment has been removed by the author.
There is a certain contradiction here. The advantage of this link-up, we're being told, is that it will increase Unionist and Northern Ireland influence at Westminster, I remain to be convinced. Meanwhile, the new alliance takes action that will almost certainly reduce the number of Unionists at Westminster and in the case of Fermanagh South Tyrone ensures the election of someone who won't take her seat resulting in zero representation for anybody.
Anonymous said…
Strange that http://www.conservativesandunionists.com has now deleted all reference to the UUP. Looks like the UUP is distancing itself. Does this mean that the UUP is really just in this whole thing for the money and hasn't, in fact, a Conservative bone in its body. So much for gaining influence at Westminster. The Tories are aligning themselves with a bunch of nutters. They should get out of this situation as soon as possible before they get tainted. And the best brand to use is the one they use everywhere else in the UK: Conservative. The U word is a total liability and the UUP is a basket case.
Anonymous said…
Things seem to be getting a bit clearer:

-The NI Tories set up an 'Official Joint Committee' website. It wasn't official or joint.
-The NI Tories have decided on the logo and campaigning name without approval of the Joint Committee.
- The UUP are pissed off as this is clearly a big trust issue.

Outrageous behavior by the NI Tories. There will also be a lot of uncomfortable people who were told they could trust these guys as unltimately the Joint Committee and UUP Exec have final say.
Anonymous said…
'The advantage of this link-up, we're being told, is that it will increase Unionist and Northern Ireland influence at Westminster, I remain to be convinced.'
Completely depends on your definitions of 'Unionist' if you mean NI focused parochial unionist then you are right to be unconvinved. If you mean gaining the trust and respect of the 350 Conservative MPs and their unionist PM then the deal obvious well increase influence.
Anonymous said…
Any news about A defector's strange disappearance?

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