Message to TUV members from leader Jim Allister.
“One week on from the announcement of TUV’s alignment with Reform UK I am delighted by the positive grassroots response.
“The DUP’s abandonment of the fight against the Union-dismantling Protocol has cut deep within unionism. With the spin of the Donaldson Deal falling apart with every day that passes and the reality that the Irish Sea border and EU law remain in full force, the resulting negative effect on unionist morale has been offset by the positivity of our new electoral venture.
“Reform UK is a party on the up, as this week’s poll shows. Its stance on immigration and against gender wokery resonates equally well in NI as in GB. For too long unionism has been too parochial. Now with the Reform UK link we can play a fuller part in the life of our nation. Indeed, while in Stormont others sing off the Sinn Fein hymn sheet of insatiable financial demands, TUV sees our union as a two-way process.
“Predictably, those who fear being held to account for their somersault on the Protocol have reverted to scaremongering about ‘splitting the vote’. Let me be clear, it is not TUV that is dividing Unionism.
“Unionism was united by the solemn declaration of Ulster Day 2021 in an “unalterable position of opposition to the Protocol, its mechanisms and structures”. This is what all unionist leaders signed up to. It is not TUV that has abandoned this unified position, but, sadly, both UUP and DUP. So, it is them, not TUV, that choose to divide unionism by embracing both EU and Sinn Fein rule. TUV will not have their guilt loaded onto us.
“The arrogant presumption by the DUP of a form of ‘divine right’ to have every unionist vote for them, even when they betray their principles and their own 7 tests, is staggering. The DUP can’t backflip from Protocol opponent to Protocol implementer without facing accountability to the electorate who trusted them to stand firm, not wilt.
“It should also be remembered that in the December 2019 General Election TUV stood aside to let the DUP complete Brexit. They lost two seats and went on to bring us the Protocol.
“The General Election will not just be about who wins what seats, but also about unionist turnout. A fall in the total unionist vote would be seized upon by the border poll brigade. So, it is vital that all shades of unionism has the incentive of someone to vote for. If there were only DUP and UUP Protocol implementers standing, then thousands would stay at home. Not now, they will have unionists of strength, not weakness to vote for.
“So, over the coming months much work and challenge lies ahead. And, as in the past week, we will see DUP fire trained on those of us who dare to stand where they promised to stand, while all the time they cavort in government with IRA/Sinn Fein. The pretence of voting DUP to stop Sinn Fein is rather torpedoed by their enthronement in government of those they would claim to want to stop! Their duplicity is running out of road and will not deter TUV from continuing to do what’s right.”