The Northern Ireland Conservatives have welcomed a letter addressed to the UUP leader Tom Elliott, from the Conservatives’ national chairman, Lord Feldman, offering a full merger and the formation of a new, Conservative led party in Northern Ireland.
Local chairman Irwin Armstrong, who gave his express approval to the letter, said that the offer is “not about Conservatism or Unionism. It’s about making people’s lives better in Northern Ireland and giving them a say locally and nationally on the issues that matter.”
“You need only look at the way the Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, has delivered for Northern Ireland, unlike the previous absentee minister, as its advocate in government,” Irwin continued. “Lowering APD, saving the coastguard, sorting out the PMS mess, protecting the block grant. The list goes on. It proves the benefits of proper representation in government and the best way to do that is to return Conservative MPs from Northern Irish constituencies.”
“This is an open and generous offer, which proposes a genuine centre-right, free market, pro-Union party which will make voters’ ballots count in the context of national UK politics. We want to reach out to everyone in Northern Ireland, irrespective of background. Clearly UCUNF was too clumsy and complex to achieve these aims and we want to build something better and simpler, under the auspices of the national party.”
“These proposals are an historic opportunity for Northern Ireland and an historic opportunity for the centre-right. I look forward to pressing ahead and delivering better politics for everyone here.”