Billy Mitchell reflects on why the PUP opposed Alex Maskey�s nomination for Lord Mayor
Alex Maskey is an experienced political activist and a long-standing member of Belfast City Council.� There is no doubt in my mind that he is as politically competent as any other member of the Council to serve as Lord Mayor of the City. Yet I fully endorsed the decision of the Progressive Unionist Party not to support Alex�s nomination for Mayor.
My reasons for not supporting Alex had nothing whatsoever to do with sectarian bigotry or anti-Irish racism, as has been suggested by some, nor had it anything to do with Sinn Fein�s perceived links with the IRA. My decision was based solely on my disenchantment with Sinn Fein�s current programme of disculturation, through which they are intent on using their increased political power and influence to cleanse Northern Ireland of any and all symbols of my British identity.
I would expect Alex Maskey, as a loyal member of Sinn Fein, to implement his party�s policies on disculturation just as I would expect a Unionist Lord Mayor to implement his or her policies on cultural identity. That brings Alex and myself into political conflict. In terms of maintaining and protecting the desire of my community to give public expression to their sense of Britishness I have more in common with Unionists, even with those Unionists who despise me and all that I stand for, than I have with Alex who has generally treated me with fairness and respect in any dealings that I have had with him.
The conflict in Northern Ireland is far from over. However, for most of us who are at the cutting edge of the conflict,� the nature of that conflict has been radically transformed. The political and cultural battles are now being fought with words, with votes and with the exercise of such political influence as we may have in� certain places. Sinn Fein is using its political influence, where it has it, to undermine and subvert my sense of Britishness. So long as this is done politically without recourse to violence I cannot complain. By the same token nationalists and republicans should not complain when I, and my party colleagues, use our voting powers to try and frustrate Sinn Fein�s agenda. That is what politics is all about.
The suggestion that Hugh Smyth, David Ervine and Billy Hutchinson disgraced themselves by backing an anti-agreement candidate against a pro-agreement candidate for the mayoral position is grossly unfair. The current battle-lines between Unionism and Nationalism are centred on the symbols of identity and a sense of belonging. My party colleagues would have disgraced themselves in the eyes of the pro-British community in general, and their own constituents in particular, had they directly or indirectly been responsible for electing a Lord Mayor who may have used his position to further his party�s campaign of disculturation against Unionists.
It is an unfortunate fact of political life that in order to protect a common interest politicians who are opposed to each on a variety of issues must unite on issues of mutual interest. Republicans have a track record in adopting such a strategy. MacBride�s �Irish Brigade� had nothing in common with the racist Boers, other in the fact that both were anti-British. James Connolly had nothing in common with German Imperialism other than the fact that both were opposed to British Imperialism. Sean Russell had nothing in common with the designs of Nazi Germany other than the fact that both wished to see the defeat of Britain. Republicans who claim to support Castro�s Cuba have nothing in common with Peter King, the champion of anti-Cuban sentiment at Washington, other than the fact that both King and republicans are anti-British.
Republicans and nationalists have always supported those who were anti-British irrespective of their differences on other important issues. The common factor has always been �anti-Britishness�. If republicans and nationalists� see no contradiction in uniting in common cause with those with whom they would not otherwise unite, why should Unionists feel guilty about sinking their differences for a common cause?
In the current conflict over issues around identity and cultural expression pro-Agreement Unionists have nothing in common with anti-Agreement Unionists other than their determination to resist Sinn Fein�s programme of disculturation. The community from which my party draws its support regards the issue of cultural identity and the expression of that identity as being of crucial importance. They expect us to champion their cause by using our votes and our influence to ensure that those who would take an opposite position are prevented from gaining the power and influence to do so.
For those who suggest that the position of Lord Mayor is politically neutral. Nothing, and no one, in Northern Ireland politics is politically neutral.
Alex has become a political casualty of my community�s disenchantment with Sinn Fein�s current policy of disculturation. This has nothing whatever to do with his religion, his competence as a councillor or his right to hold the beliefs that he holds.� It simply a matter of politics and of faithfully serving one�s community.
(Published in the �North Belfast News�� 17th June 2000)