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ANALYSIS: Commission on union is electoral ruse

DUP leader Peter Robinson has called for a commission on the union
DUP leader Peter Robinson has called for a commission on the union DUP leader Peter Robinson has called for a commission on the union

Peter Robinson is nothing if not a man of initiatives – the Unionist Forum, the graduated response and the commission into parading in north Belfast are all recent examples of his creative approach to problem solving. You'll probably already realised, however, that a common thread running through all these ventures is that they've got no further than the tunnel to Scotland – yet another great idea from the DUP.

And so just days before the election, with the DUP manifesto launch long past and most hustings engagements out of the way, Mr Robinson revealed another grand plan – a commission on the union.

Detail around the initiative is limited but the DUP leader assured his audience in east Belfast on Monday night that this was a red line issue – "a non-negotiable requirement of any deal we enter into".

Mr Robinson is quite right to be concerned about the future of the union. The Scottish Nationalists' expected landslide will further fuel the momentum created by last September's independence referendum, which could in turn create greater resentment of Scotland's separatist demands south of Hadrian's Wall. Something may indeed need to be done to strengthen the ties between the union's constituent parts but how relevant to this process the DUP would be is questionable.

What became apparent from the debate around Scottish independence is that a unionism which celebrates sectarianism in the manner of the Orange Order or mounts roadblocks in opposition to democratic votes has no support in Britain, which unlike Northern Ireland is a society where diversity – whether ethnic, religious or sexual – is broadly accepted. A jingoistic unionism based on religious fundamentalism is anathema to many secular 21st century Britons.

But perhaps Mr Robinson knows this, which is why his red line demand is one that has no real substance and appears pitched solely at his home audience. It is essentially a call for a talking shop, followed by a report that will inevitably gather dust on the shelf. It looks like a late election tactic to refocus voters' minds on constitutional matters and the common denominator rather than the health minister's resignation and moral issues that has dogged the DUP campaign in recent weeks.

His latest initiative has more to do with the immediacy of securing East Belfast, South Antrim and Upper Bann than the long-term aim of copperfastening the United Kingdom.