Ben Lowry: Unionism has been stymied by lack of support in London

A personal letter from News letter editor Ben Lowry

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Subscribe              I N S I D E R           Feb 5, 2022             Ben Lowry Editor   We are into February, the height of winter, but it is politics that might be heading for a deep freeze. The decision of Edwin Poots to stop Irish Sea checks, then of the DUP first minister Paul Givan to resign, has dominated the news. We had more than 10 pages of coverage in Friday's paper, and another 10 in today's edition. This is the front page story, with the MP Sammy Wilson saying his party's stance has support in London https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/dup-protocol-stance-has-support-in-london-says-mp-sammy-wilson-3556303 If that is so, then unionism has not been able to bank on such in the past, as I write here in a column on the current woes for Northern Ireland supporters of the UK https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/ben-lowry-unionism-has-been-stymied-by-lack-of-support-in-london-3556362 Owen Polley writes here about how the DUP has, he feels, finally done something that represents the gravity of the Northern Ireland Protocol https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/owen-polley-finally-dup-does-something-to-show-gravity-of-protocol-predicament-3556055 Yet another of our opinion columns was one of the most read stories of the week. Ruth Dudley Edwards on how despite her Dublin Catholic, soft nationalist background she now considers herself a unionist https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/ruth-dudley-edwards-its-official-i-am-now-a-unionist-3549958 Another well read political story was this one about veterans demanding an apology from Colum Eastwood MP over his Bloody Sunday comments https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/crime/veterans-demand-apology-from-colum-eastwood-over-bloody-sunday-claims-3551105 Meanwhile, there is irony in the fact that Edwin Poots has been at the forefront of the tougher DUP line on the Irish Sea border, yet has faced tensions within the party over getting re-elected to Stormont. Here his leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson seems to be offering an olive branch https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/donaldson-backing-poots-in-bid-to-reclaim-lost-seat-in-lagan-valley-3555137 With the fall of the executive, ministers will remain in place, but with reduced powers. This creates uncertainty as to what will happen, for example, to Covid rule changes which were due on Thursday coming https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/still-no-clarity-on-coronavirus-rule-changes-3555776 This weekend is the 70th anniversary of the Queen's reign. Our weekend paper today includes pictures on Her Majesty's fashion style over the decades, as well as this report on local good wishes for the monarch https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/people/well-wishes-from-ni-as-queen-begins-jubilee-celebrations-3556372 In sport, Andy Farrell wants swashbuckling the Ireland rugby team to make nation proud in Six Nations Ireland head coach sends out clear message ahead of high-profile tournament https://www.newsletter.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/andy-farrell-wants-swashbuckling-ireland-to-make-nation-proud-in-six-nations-3554957 In football, Patrick van Dort writes about the same old Portadown problems despite Paul Doolin's fresh voice https://www.newsletter.co.uk/sport/football/northern-ireland/comment-same-old-portadown-problems-despite-paul-doolins-fresh-voice-3556260 Farming Life reports on a tractor driver to be sentenced for death of friend https://www.farminglife.com/country-and-farming/tractor-driver-to-be-sentenced-for-death-of-friend-3555642 And it has this article about 148 acre Creevenmore farm that has just gone on the market https://www.farminglife.com/country-and-farming/148-acre-creevenmore-farm-has-just-gone-on-the-market-in-northern-ireland-3554505 Also this story about an unacceptable standard of litter on almost half of our rural roads https://www.farminglife.com/country-and-farming/there-is-an-unacceptable-standard-of-litter-on-almost-half-of-our-rural-roads-3554108 As ever there is too much to say about our online coverage or our 144 page bumper edition, that is in the shops until tomorrow. Thank you for your continued interest in The News Letter. If we can interest you, there's huge value in a subscription to The News Letter, through which you can secure unfettered access to our news, sport, opinion and lifestyle journalism, all produced for you here by our team across Northern Ireland. -- Ben Lowry Editor              Ben Lowry: Unionism has been stymied by lack of support in London   Read more +     Owen Polley: Finally DUP does something to show gravity of Protocol predicament   Read more +           Despite SF and DUP, planned election date May 5 unlikely to come forward                     Read more +     Subscribe today             Full access   Subscribe for unlimited access to all our articles, 70% fewer ads, daily puzzles and our desktop & mobile app. From just £1 . 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