WITH Sir Reg ‘never to be’ Empey expected to quit today (or not long after), Sammy Wilson has decided to show a bit of leg to the weakened UUP with his declaration in support of unionist unity. He said:
Our approach must now be one of unionist cooperation in establishing greater stability and improving our structures of government. We recognise that our present situation is not perfect but it is immeasurably better compared to what went before.
It is clear the majority of the people do not want to go back to instability under direct rule but rather the message on the doorsteps has been one of unity and the need for the unionist family to work together. That will be my focus in the next Parliament.
I wonder if the subliminal message to the UUP here is: “McGuinness could be the next First Minister – that was our fault at St Andrews. You lot are rudderless and on life support – which is partly our fault, but hey, you get the blame. Maybe we should get together some time – without Paterson, natch – and talk about us getting into bed together.”