Salmond and Robinson - birds of a feather?

O’Neill has already highlighted the possibility of a ‘Celtic Bloc’ designed to extract nationalist concessions at Westminster, should the general election result in a hung parliament. Several newspapers have reported discussions between the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the SDLP and, yes, the DUP.

At the SNP’s Spring Conference the party set out its strategy, which is heavily weighted towards the possibility that a hung parliament might occur. Peter Robinson has also set out his stall, in similar fashion, highlighting the opportunity to realise ‘key strategic gains’ in the event of an inconclusive election.

With polls steadying for Conservatives over the weekend a decisive victory is still very much achievable. However, almost all commentators agree, a hung parliament would be the worst possible general election result for the United Kingdom. Three parties committed to the dismantlement of the UK might be expected to aspire to that outcome, but the DUP is purportedly a unionist party!

The seventeen out of eighteen Conservative and Unionist candidates who have been unveiled hope to participate in the British government. They aspire to contribute to the governance of their country. In contrast, the DUP shares a wreckers’ agenda with its nationalist colleagues from across the UK.

The definition of unionism which Robinson prefers has nothing whatsoever to do with genuine commitment to the UK. It is a parish pump opportunism which seeks only to exploit difficulties at Westminster.

The UUP has made its allies the British Conservative party, a piece of Union building which has been attacked with vitriol by Democratic Unionists. Meanwhile the DUP’s bedfellows are Alex Salmond and Ieuan Wyn Jones, politicians devoted to breaking up the UK!