Kennedy challenges Robinson blackmail tactics
In a statement this evening Ulster Unionist Deputy Leader Danny Kennedy said,
“It has come to our attention today that the figures for Party support in the Belfast Telegraph Poll were based on answers from 530 (53%) out of the 1004 persons phoned from call centres in Edinburgh and Dublin.
The remaining 474 persons either refused to state a preference or stated that they were unlikely to vote. And are classified as don’t knows.
This is an enormous figure that should have been drawn to the public’s attention.
Of course this did not stop Peter Robinson from using this flawed poll to re-state his threat of Sinn Fein becoming the largest Party. This is an undisguised attempt to mislead, confuse and blackmail the voting public while talking up Republicans.
The St Andrews Agreement Act gerrymandered the system for appointing a First and Deputy First Minister and removed the unionist veto on who could occupy those offices. Despite Ulster Unionist efforts to amend this gerrymander in both Houses of Parliament, the DUP refused to support us. This carries its own clear message.
Ian Paisley’s confirmation yesterday that he wanted to take Finance, and Gerry Adam’s confirmation today that he wants Education, the door having been left open by the DUP yesterday, has a whiff of choreography about it.
Nobody knows what the DUP stands for anymore.
But there is one sure route for unionists to follow. A vote for Ulster Unionists will guarantee that we will take the Education Ministry and ensure a working Stormont with a Unionist First Minister.”