Responding to Gavin Robinson’s comments on Talkback today Lagan Valley TUV vice chairman Samuel Morrison said:
“I note Mr Robinson dismisses people who are coming from other parts of the United Kingdom to a rally in Dromore as “flying in from England.”
“While I appreciate the recently developed appetites of his party to embrace all things Irish from Gaelic language to GAA, we in TUV and Reform value the United Kingdom and believe allies of the Union should be welcomed.
“Furthermore, it is worth noting that both the local DUP MLAs were invited to the rally. They were even invited to suggest a chairperson for the event. A similar invitation was extended to the UUP deputy leader who is MLA for Lagan Valley. Only one MLA bothered to reply – and he declined.
“Two years ago, the DUP and UUP were happy to share a stage with Ben Habib, Jim Allister and Baroness Hoey in the very same venue our rally will take place in on Friday 26th April. In fact, up and down the country DUP representatives were positively keen to be on the same platforms as Kate and Ben who they hailed as champions of the Union.
“Now their Ulster Nationalism has come to the fore and they seem to believe that the Irish Sea Border they implement between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK should apply to politicians. TUV and Reform do not share their narrow vision.”