Barging into the Tories
Lord Trimble must be in his element. A narrow boat enthusiast, he finds himself attending a Conservative conference in a city which has more canals than Venice. When I broadcast on the "Politics Show" this lunchtime, a long procession of barges floated past in the background, including one rather incongruous boat which had two armed police officers near the bow and the skipper and his dog at the stern. I rather hoped they were making their way along the "Grand Union Canal", but sadly I discovered the waterway was the "Birmingham Canal".
Lord Trimble himself brought up the stern of day one of this conference, making the closing speech. He didn't indulge in any criticism of the DUP, instead he painted a broader canvass of what he views as the shared values and institutions of the union. He criticised the SNP and the Labour government and promised that the Tories would fight every seat in the UK, including every seat in NI. He believed people would be surprised and "delighted" by the results.
The Conservative spokesman, Owen Paterson, repeated his talk of future NI junior ministers or Cabinet ministers. Some here think a merger between the UUP and the Tories is "a done deal". Others worry about the apparent ambivalence of the UUP's only MP, Lady Sylvia Hermon.
Apart from offering a political argument to counter that of the DUP, the merger could provide a financial lifeline for the UUP. Having lost so much Westminster funding the party is having to lease its HQ to make ends meet. I have heard talk here that if it becomes the "Conservative and Unionist Party" it could stand to gain as much as Β£40,000 per seat towards its campaign costs in the next General Election.
The DUP hold a fringe event tomorrow. There had been rumours that Peter Robinson would be here, but I gather that Jeffrey Donaldson, Mervyn Storey and Michelle McIlveen are lined up for roles as Daniels in the Lions Den.
If the DUP had voted differently over 42 days would everything be different? Or was it Iris's comments which made a more negative impact on the Cameroonians? Either way do the DUP really have that much to fear?
I'm 
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