Religion and Ethics Forum
General Category => Politics & Current Affairs => Topic started by: Nearly Sane on April 27, 2021, 04:48:03 PM
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This could get very messy
https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/arlene-fosters-time-as-dup-leader-coming-to-an-end-as-75-of-her-mlas-sign-letter-of-no-confidence-3216112
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This could get very messy
https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/arlene-fosters-time-as-dup-leader-coming-to-an-end-as-75-of-her-mlas-sign-letter-of-no-confidence-3216112
I can't see a Westminster DUP leader and a virtual puppet FM. Than can't work in a devolved settlement.
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I can't see a Westminster DUP leader and a virtual puppet FM. Than can't work in a devolved settlement.
And the indication is that Arlene is being seen as a moderate and being got rid of because of that.
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Of course then there was this from the oddities of the DUP
https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/dup-councillor-suspended-after-suggesting-prince-philip-may-have-groomed-the-queen-3206444
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And the indication is that Arlene is being seen as a moderate and being got rid of because of that.
I'm trying to find the youtube clip, but I recall the lovely Arlene addressing an Orange Order rammy - sorry, rally - in Airdrie a couple of years back.
'Moderate' would not be the word I'd choose; as I recall, some of her ranting's would have eclipsed Ian Paisley in his vituperative best in the 1970's.
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I'm trying to find the youtube clip, but I recall the lovely Arlene addressing an Orange Order rammy - sorry, rally - in Airdrie a couple of years back.
'Moderate' would not be the word I'd choose; as I recall, some of her ranting's would have eclipsed Ian Paisley in his vituperative best in the 1970's.
That's the problem though, when she is seen as too moderate we are in dangerous times.
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I haven’t really been following this, but I thought it was nothing to do with her moderate ness and everything to do with the trade barrier between NI and the mainland.
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I haven’t really been following this, but I thought it was nothing to do with her moderate ness and everything to do with the trade barrier between NI and the mainland.
Not entirely.
The DUP moves in mysterious ways.
Her views and actions are seen as dangerously liberal in parts of the DUP which think that only declarations bawled in Jacobean English class as reasonable.
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I haven’t really been following this, but I thought it was nothing to do with her moderate ness and everything to do with the trade barrier between NI and the mainland.
I think it is a combination of issues. Certainly the whole Brexit/NI trade barrier is a huge issue, but she is also seen amongst some in the DUP as not being socially conservative enough for their liking.
We might end up with a situation where she is kicked out as DUP leader but could remain as First Minister - now that would be interesting.
Actually this is really worrying as I think it is a manifestation of wider unrest amongst the loyalist communities in NI and a new leader, without being shackled to the Brexit deal, could be more outspoken against it and, by inference, provide legitimacy to those that want to use non peaceful means of protest.
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I think it is a combination of issues. Certainly the whole Brexit/NI trade barrier is a huge issue, but she is also seen amongst some in the DUP as not being socially conservative enough for their liking. We might end up with a situation where she is kicked out as DUP leader but could remain as First Minister - now that would be interesting. Actually this is really worrying as I think it is a manifestation of wider unrest amongst the loyalist communities in NI and a new leader, without being shackled to the Brexit deal, could be more outspoken against it and, by inference, provide legitimacy to those that want to use non peaceful means of protest.
The DUP has walked a tightrope, ever since devolution, in trying to appease hard line loyalists and more nuanced unionists. Ian Paislet morphed from the former into something of the latter. This eclipsed the more moderate Ulster Unionist party. I wonder if a more extrene DUP ( ! ) would herald a resurgant UUP?
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The DUP has walked a tightrope, ever since devolution, in trying to appease hard line loyalists and more nuanced unionists. Ian Paislet morphed from the former into something of the latter. This eclipsed the more moderate Ulster Unionist party. I wonder if a more extrene DUP ( ! ) would herald a resurgant UUP?
It might - although the clear threat to NI remaining in the UK from Brexit may well push unionists towards a party taking the toughest line, which may be the DUP. It depends on whether unionists ultimately blame the DUP for what has happened in Brexit or just Arlene Foster rather than the party itself, or perhaps just see themselves as having been shafted by Boris.
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One of the names I heard mentioned on the radio this morning as a possible replacement is Edwin Poots. I had realised that the DUP were very socially conservative with religious overtones, but this guy's views seem extreme for an occupant of a mainstream political role - but then again this is NI.
From his Wiki page.
Poots is a young earth creationist and rejects the theory of evolution............... when asked by BBC presenter William Crawley how old the Earth was, Poots replied: "My view on the earth is that it's a young earth. My view is 4,000 BC." Young earth creationism is accepted by the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, of which Poots is a member, and other conservative evangelicals in Northern Ireland.
Poots caused controversy by banning blood donations from gay people, saying "I think that people who engage in high-risk sexual behaviour in general should be excluded from giving blood." He defined risky behaviour as "someone who has sex with somebody in Africa or sex with prostitutes".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Poots
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One of the names I heard mentioned on the radio this morning as a possible replacement is Edwin Poots. I had realised that the DUP were very socially conservative with religious overtones, but this guy's views seem extreme for an occupant of a mainstream political role - but then again this is NI.
From his Wiki page.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Poots
Terrifying
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Terrifying
Indeed.
Not even the somewhat extreme theology of Ian Paisley descended to YECism.
He was never enthusiastic about evolution, but, in a candid interview, he accepted both it and an old earth were not incompatable with Christianity.
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So in summary: Arlene Foster is likely to go, to which I'd like to say good riddance, but she is likely to be replaced by somebody even worse.
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She's going.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-56910045