A Tangled Web

I'VE GOT A BRAND NEW KEY...



You have to laugh. The Newsletter leads with the stunning annoucement that "Empey holds the key to crisis"! Really? I was rather under the impression that the noble Knight ( as opposed to the Nobel Laureate) has supported every pig-headed decision Trimble has made. Therefore in what way is is political acumen supposed to be superior to Mr. T's? Ciaran McKeown's breathless prose is rib-tickingly hilarious. " Now, either Sir Reg will back Mr Trimble openly and firmly and leave the anti-Trimble group without a viable candidate: or he will become a candidate and would almost certainly be elected by delegates desperate to try anything to lift the party's fortunes" Is it just me or is the UUP so dysfunctional that it thinks a Montgomery Burns lookalike is the very man to restore its flagging fortunes.



Clearly Empey would like to be Leader, but there is the slight problem that he shows no leadership qualities. I have sat in a few meeting with him and found him to be utterly ineffective - very much the Government stooge. If the UUP want to make a change, make one worth having. Have they ANY substantive candidates? Not obvious. I can think of no MLA who has the courage and intellect, combined with sophisticated interpersonal skill base, to change this Party's direction into chaos. Root and branch reform, the abandonment of the Belfast Agreement, momentous modernisation - as a minimum - are what is required. Somehow I can't see the Zimmerframe fraternity that constitute the UUP membership accepting that. The Party is over.