ANOTHER VOICE
Mr Major would not be dismissive of the Scottish nationalists if they had the wit to commit attrocities
CHARL ES MOORE
Unfortunately for the Government, there will be a by-election in Kinross and West Perthshire this month and another in North Down very soon. It expects to lose the seat formerly held by Sir Nicholas Fair- bairn, and in North Down the deceased Member Sir James Kilfedder, despite run- ning his own party (Popular Unionist), had a more reliable record in the Government lobby than many Conservatives. Whoever replaces Sir James will be less compliant.
In both constituencies Conservative candi- dates will be standing, and one can be cer- tain that both will extol the virtues of the Union. But that is the position of the candi- dates. The attitude of the Conservative Gov- ernment, on the other hand, will be almost the exact opposite in the Scottish case to the one it will adopt in Northern Ireland.
The voters of Kinross will be told that the destiny of their country lies within the United Kingdom, and that any attempt to devolve political authority within that king- dom is bound to weaken its unity. In North Down, on the improbable assumption that the local Conservative association is so imprudent as to invite them to speak, min- isters will explain to the electors that they have no policy about whether Northern Ire- land should be part of the United Kingdom and that the only way forward for the province is for it to enjoy devolved political authority.
In what could fairly be seen as a deserved rebuke for this contradiction, a Nationalist will probably win in Kinross and a Unionist (though not necessarily the Conservative) will certainly win in North Down. Why is it, people will ask, that what is right beside the banks of the Tay is wrong on the shores of Strangford Lough?
The Government's reply is that the cir- cumstances are very different. This is incontestably true. In Scotland people have not killed one another about politics in large numbers since 1745. In Northern Ire- land they were doing so until August of last year. But if one asks why people have been killing one another so recently one wonders how the Government has arrived at its pre- sent view. The killing in Ulster surely results from political uncertainty and the fear and suspicion which that breeds. A large majority in the province wishes to be British and a vigorous minority does not, but that, in itself, is not the cause of vio- lence, because exactly the same is true in Scotland. In Northern Ireland, unlike in Scotland, there is genuine doubt as to who is to prevail. Terrorists believe that they can exploit that doubt and move towards their goal by killing.
They have been proved right by the events of the past 25 years. What IRA man could have dreamt, in the dark days of the mid-Sixties, that a province which so over- whelmingly repudiated his doctrines (even in the Catholic community from which he sprung ) would see so many of them acted upon? Stormont was abolished, the B-Spe- cials were abolished, the connection between the Unionists and the Conserva- tives was broken. From Sunningdale onwards, successive British governments brought the Republic of Ireland into the question. And now, in the Downing Street Declaration, confirmed in the Framework Document, the British Government says that it has no 'selfish, strategic or economic interest' in Northern Ireland. The killing has been a tremendous success. How else could a party with less than 10 per cent of the vote in one small part of a large country have attracted the favourable attention of the world, received an invitation for its lead- er to shake hands with the President of the United States, got a peace prize in Switzer- land, and won the right to sit down later this month with the men it has so often tried to kill? One can be sure that Mr Major would not be so dismissive of the demands of the Scottish Nationalists if they had had the gumption to commit a few atrocities.
How nice it would be if a nation and an `international community' declaredly com- mitted to the principles of democracy were to pay attention to North Down during its by-election. It is the Surrey of Northern Ireland, but better than Surrey, less spoilt by materialism and roads and modernity, yet equally calm and equally bourgeois and even more patriotic and respectable. At present we know that there will be an Alliance candidate, a Conservative, an Offi- cial Unionist, and the able independent Unionist Mr Robert McCartney QC. All of these, except the Alliance, will oppose the content of the Framework Document. The watching world, if it bothers to watch, might ask itself why the great majority of a thoroughly law-abiding community will not countenance the chief formal product of what is known as the Peace Process. Is it commonly the case that peace comes through the imposition upon peaceful peo- ple of forms of government which they fear? In North Down you will find scarcely any of the sectarian ranters who give Unionism a bad name (the Paisleyites are probably too weak there to field a candi- date at all): you will meet sensible people with a big stake in peace and reconciliation. Ask yourselves why they will reject what our Government keeps telling them is good for them.
After all this, it must appear perverse to encourage the people of North Down to vote Conservative. Yet I hope they will. For the North Down Conservatives are not at one with Mr Major and Sir Patrick Mayhew and Mr Michael Ancram. Whoever is their candidate (and, contrary to press reports, that will not be me, much as I should have loved to do it if I practically could have done) will be arguing that the best hope for Northern Ireland lies in its integration with the administrative, governmental and polit- ical institutions of the mainland. In particu- lar, Conservatives in Northern Ireland believe that the province will always be patronised, excluded and ignored until at least one of the national parties holds an Ulster seat in Westminster. In British poli- tics, party is almost everything and so Ulster Unionist MPs, except for the fleet- ing moments when they can threaten the Government's majority, are unable to get a purchase upon the system. If a Conserva- tive government had a Member for North- ern Ireland sitting on its backbenches, it would be forced to consider the Province's case, instead of treating the place, as it does at present, as a colonial outpost. And if an argument of self-interest has to be found as, of course, for the Conservatives, it always does, it lies in the fact that the replacement of a separate Unionist party by Conserva- tive and Unionist MPs in Northern Ireland would yield 12 or so extra seats.
Naturally one does not expect the Tory Government to listen to any of this. Listen- ing to its party's own supporters is not its big thing. But I hope Tories who care about the Union will see the sense in backing Tory candidates who share that concern in the place where the danger is most acute. The Conservatives of North Down are the strongest in Northern Ireland and were only 4,000 votes off winning last time, but they need help in every form, not least money. Cheques, please, to The Treasurer, North Down Conservative Association, 2, May Avenue, Bangor, Co. Down. Other offers of support to the same address.
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