Opinion

Newton Emerson: DUP has overplayed its Brexit hand with the Tories

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson writes a twice-weekly column for The Irish News and is a regular commentator on current affairs on radio and television.

Sinn Féin is busy engaging in daft photo-opportunities rather than using its MPs to do anything about Brexit concerns. Picture by David Young/PA Wire
Sinn Féin is busy engaging in daft photo-opportunities rather than using its MPs to do anything about Brexit concerns. Picture by David Young/PA Wire Sinn Féin is busy engaging in daft photo-opportunities rather than using its MPs to do anything about Brexit concerns. Picture by David Young/PA Wire

THE DUP's blood red line is already turning a distinct shade of pink.

Last week the party failed to back the Tories on a Commons vote, with its Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson bluntly declaring this "a warning".

An unnamed DUP spokesman then threatened "guerrilla war" to stop any sea border being implemented.

On Monday, deputy leader Nigel Dodds threatened to withhold all support from the Conservatives apart from on votes of confidence, creating a zombie government.

But on Tuesday Sir Jeffrey Donaldson - rumoured as a future leader - said it was "unlikely" this threat would be followed through.

On Wednesday, the DUP trooped obediently through the lobbies to back a Tory block on releasing reports into problems with Universal Credit, although the six MPs concerned must have known how badly that would play at home.

This clearly shows the DUP realises it has overplayed its hand. It also suggests internal differences of opinion over what to do next.

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Meanwhile, Sinn Féin has been underplaying its hand. The party has engaged in a week of daft photo-opportunities, waving placards and banners proclaiming 'No Border No Brexit' instead of using its seven MPs to do something about it - a real possibility as Commons arithmetic narrows.

Many of the placards claim a Brexit hard border is being "brought to you" by four culprits - "Tories, DUP, UUP, People Before Profit".

The latter inclusion, which the tiny socialist party says is a misrepresentation of its position, gives the game away.

Sinn Féin is more interested in a few votes in next year's council elections than in actually stopping Brexit or softening the border.

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Loyalist blogger and former flag protest leader Jamie Bryson has warned of a wave of "civil disobedience" against any sea border that would "dwarf" the flag protests and, more ominously, Drumcree.

Sinn Féin has previously warned of widespread civil disobedience against a hard border, although it is doubtful that inspections inside the Port of Belfast would provide the same sort of accessible and provocative targets.

The real concern about Bryson's warning is the effect if might have on the DUP.

In 2014, the party pulled out of the Haass talks at the last minute after senior members briefed Bryson on an agreement over parades, flags and emblems and he replied by warning of a wave of "band culture" protests.

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Sinn Féin has sent a combative response to school principals in Derry, after schools sent letters home to all pupils warning the Stormont deadlock has crippled their funding.

The Sinn Féin response, issued in the name of Karen Mullan MLA, notes funding per pupil here is still 5 per cent higher than in England and child poverty in Northern Ireland is precisely the UK average of 25 per cent - no surprise, when child poverty is statistically defined to always be around 25 per cent.

While it is welcome that Sinn Féin has acknowledged these facts, it is a pity it preferred to stir up fear and loathing over poverty and funding while in office.

Mullan also said her party would love to put up taxes to spend more but the power is not available at Stormont.

This is incorrect - the regional rate is fully devolved and as a wealth tax no truly left-wing party could object to raising it.

Yet Sinn Féin always joined the DUP in holding it down to just 5 per cent of Stormont's income.

Does anyone have a placard for 'Property Before People'?

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To the RHI inquiry, where chair Sir Patrick Coghlin appeared to be choosing his words carefully after hearing testimony from the Ulster Farmers' Union that its members were not generally aware of the boiler bonanza on offer and phoning up the UFU for further information.

"I think we find it somewhat difficult to understand," Sir Patrick said.

"Because the one thing farmers will talk about between themselves is: is there some way to increase farm earnings?

"It's not the most generous of occupations and if there is an opportunity to increase their earnings, they will want to know about it."

Was this observation 'rural-proofed', as Stormont liked to say?

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Brexit is adding a new Derry/Londonderry-type dispute to our lexicon - just what this society needs - as republicans increasingly correct every mention of "the Irish border" to "the British border in Ireland".

Sinn Féin MP Conor Murphy began a BBC Newsnight interview this week by making this point to the presenter.

Convention in English is to refer to a border by the country on the other side - in France, for example, you would refer to the German, Swiss, Belgian or Spanish borders.

Obviously, this does not work if you consider a border to have been imposed through the middle your country and that opinion should be respected.

It is the correcting aspect that is so tiresome - is it not rude and arrogant to tell other people how to speak?

We should learn from the evolving convention on Northern Ireland/the north, where both sides to a conversation simply accept the other person's terminology.

newton@irishnews.com