THE incoherence of Ulster Unionist leader Steve Aiken's floundering efforts to explain why his party has joined the clamour for chief constable Simon Byrne to resign emphasises the current disarray within unionism.
Every unionist party is now calling for Mr Byrne to step down. It follows a turbulent week in which the Public Prosecution Service decided not to charge anyone, including Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill, for attending last June's funeral of Bobby Storey amid stringent Covid restrictions.
The PSNI recommended that charges be brought; but the PPS decided not to proceed, citing liaison between the police and funeral organisers as well as confusion over the restrictions.
The PPS's reasoning has attracted justified criticism and its decision is being reviewed, but it is Mr Byrne who has become the focus of unionist ire.
However baseless Mr Aiken's claim that "at least half of the population" no longer support the PSNI or nonsensical his dismissal of a review into the affair by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, such rhetoric can only heighten an atmosphere already febrile because of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The episode highlights a worrying lack of mature and responsible political leadership. Sinn Féin, for example, could have defused the situation last year with a sincere and timely apology. This week's knee-jerk resignation calls from unionists are reckless and politicise policing.
