Jim Allister: Irish Parliamentarian of the year?

Jim Allister is a formidable and controversial political figure. An uncompromising Unionist with a political career which has also seen him resign not once, but twice, from the DUP. Jim doesn’t do compromise on his Unionist principles and that is perhaps best reflected in his decision to set up and lead his own Political Party – the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV).

On one of those occasions he resigned because the DUP had decided to get into bed with Sinn Fein, but in more recent times Allister’s difficulties  with the DUP related to their decision to get into bed with the British Government –  to sell the  Windsor Framework (aka the Protocol v2.0) to Unionists –  in order to  restore the Stormont Assembly.

(A position from which the DUP have now rowed back from, which arguably, at least in part, is because of electoral pressure from the TUV.)

Whilst Allister’s uncompromising unionism makes him a source of considerable unpopularity amongst Nationalists and Republicans, it is reasonable to reflect that whatever misgivings more moderate unionists (and we can perhaps include the DUP here) have about him , they would much prefer Jim inside their tent relieving himself to the outside world – than the reverse.

In a divided society, such as in the Northern Ireland, it is to be expected that our political opponents are not always judged impartially and I think it fair to say that some of us, on the Nationalist side (yours truly excepted of course), have considerable difficulty in leaving aside the dislike for Allister’s politics  when evaluating his political capabilities.

Having been elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly as the TUV’s sole Assembly Member in 2011,  what even Allister’s most steadfast political enemies should concede, is that he is both an excellent debater and legislator. His speaking record in the Assembly reflects this, as does his introduction of significant legislation via two Private Members Bills, which have changed the way the Assembly operates.  Allister was also a very visible presence in the European Parliament between 2004 and 2009.

That Allister possesses a formidable intellect is apparent from his ability to argue, without being deflected, on points of principle on complex legislation whilst drawing on simple, practical examples that renders his position both clear and convincing – something that his other day job as a Kings Council (KC) must help with. (Allister became a QC in 2001).

Until July 2024, when Allister was elected to Westminster, his debating audiences were largely confined to those who followed the Northern Ireland Assembly and local TV and Radio. He remains a regular on the Stephen Nolan (aka The All Ireland Speech Broadcaster of the Year) Radio Show, where he can be relied upon to champion the anti Good Friday Agreement(GFA)  position and offer vehement opposition to the Protocol v2.0.

For those Nationalists and/or Republicans, such as myself, who are interested in what our most vociferous political opponents think – Jim is the go-to man.

After Jeffrey Donaldson was arrested and charged with rape in March 2024 and the DUP began to resile from championing the Protocol v2.0 in the run up to the British General Election in July – Allister pounced. Having first contested the seat for the TUV  in 2010, Allister won the North Antrim Westminster seat by a whisker. He defeated Ian Paisley Junior (óg) by 450 votes.

So, Jim was off to London Town to take up his new role. But could he step up to the big league – the senior hurling at Westminster? Well on Friday the 6^th of December 2024, we found out. Spoiler alert… Jim absolutely nailed it.

Picture the scene…In front of Jim,  sat the DUP MPs – those who have been on the receiving end of some of his most stinging criticism – Messrs Sammy Wilson, Gavin Robinson, Carla Lockhart,  Gregory Campbell and Jim Shannon. On the same bench as Allister, a few seats removed, Robin Swann(UUP), by any definition – a moderate Unionist. This was as close to a showing of Unionist unity as you could hope to get without turning up to an Orange demonstration on the 12^th July.

This was Team Union, lining out in support of their Team captain – the estimable Jim Allister.

He was introducing the Second Reading of his Private Members Bill The European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill – a bill to scrap  the Protocol v2.0. The timing could not have been better – on the following Tuesday (the 10^th of December 2024) the Stormont Assembly was to rubber stamp the Protocol v2.0 – in what Allister and every elected Unionist in the Northern Ireland considered a rigged vote.

Whilst the declared purpose of Jim’s bill was to replace the Protocol v2.0 with ‘mutual enforcement’, he knew well (and said as much) that the Bill would be talked out by the Government.  But this was Allister’s and Unionism’s chance to put on the record how the mother of parliaments had failed to stand by the principle of consent that underpinned the Union of Great Britain and Northern Ireland  as reflected in in the GFA and had abandoned Northern Ireland by leaving it behind in the EU after Brexit.

Allister stood up at 9.47 and finally sat down again a few hours later,  having given way multiple times to those who both supported and apposed him. After Allister, a number of speakers had their go with matters finally concluding after some 5 hours. The DUP MPs took it in turns to offer examples of how, rather than Northern Ireland becoming the  new Singapore of the West, the Protocol v2.0 had  mired it in red tape.

Gavin Robinson reporting that Invest Northern Ireland could not offer a single example of a new investment because of the Protocol v2.0. The Reform UK Party Leader, Richard Tice, a co-sponsor of Allister’s Bill, helpfully emphasised how useless the Stormont Brake was in mitigating the ill-effects of the Protocol v2.0 on the good people of Northern Ireland. (The Stormont Brake has since been applied by Unionists in the Stormont Assembly– and we await the outcome).

Amongst the facts shared by Allister with the House were the following; that the good British cattle of Northern Ireland could no longer  wear UK ear tags but now required EU ones, that 300 areas of law were now outside the remit of British lawmakers, that Northern Ireland ports were now treated as entry points to the EU, that Britain was now regarded (in terms of trade to NI) as a foreign country, that medicines were no longer available and that Mrs Allister herself could not order goods from Britain –  and that  this all therefore meant that Northern Ireland  was now an EU ‘colony’.

And when Jim’s  ‘colony’ statement was challenged – Jim asked the Government’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Fleur Anderson, if he should give way to her, so she could offer the House the correct term. But as no such suggestions were forthcoming from the good Minister, the casual observer in the Public gallery might reasonably conclude, that Jim’s colony remark – was indeed on the nose.

Whilst Allister dealt reasonably comfortably with the sprinkling of mainland MPs who made general points about damage to Britain’s international reputation and the damage to the GFA if his Bill was adopted, two MPs in particular, Stella Creasy and Deirdre Costigan had clearly come very well prepared for battle and harried Jim throughout. (Stella Creasy, it might be observed seemed to rather enjoy these exchanges).

But rather than try and refute the suggestions of damage that his Bill would do (which might indeed have proven difficult for him)  Allister wisely stuck to discussing the constitutional damage the current arrangements were actually doing.

Allister laid two central charges against the British Government for their imposition of the Protocol.  Firstly, that the Protocol went against the wishes of Northern Ireland Unionists and yet had not been subject to the requirement of cross community consent in the Stormont Assembly and secondly, that despite the UK as a whole having voted for Brexit, part of it, namely Northern Ireland, had been left behind.

On the first charge of ignoring the requirement for Unionist consent, Allister gave way to Robin Swann (UUP) who quoted the late David Trimble – who is regarded as a key architect of the GFA;

I feel betrayed personally by the Northern Ireland Protocol, and it is also why the unionist population is so incensed at its imposition. The protocol rips the very heart out of the agreement, which I and they believed safeguarded Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom and ensured that democracy not violence, threat of violence or outside interference, would or could ever change that.

(It should be noted that Trimble failed to convince the Supreme Court of this.)

Swann is someone who has gained considerable respect  (including from Irish Nationalists) as Health Minister in Stormont during the Covid pandemic. Swann delivered Trimble’s words with what seemed like a mixture of both sadness and controlled rage. For those who may have sought to portray the day’s proceedings as the narrow sectional interest of a rejectionist Unionist – this would have been very difficult to reconcile with what they just had heard from Robin Swann.

On the second charge that Northern Ireland had been left behind in the EU, Allister took a swipe at Claire Hanna of the Nationalist SDLP:

How can the hon. Member, who calls herself a Social Democratic and Labour Member, look her constituents in the eye and say, “I believe you are not worthy to have your laws made by those you elect: I would rather they were made by those you don’t elect”? Is it because the nationalist reach of the protocol is more important than the democratic detriment of the protocol?

When Allister gave way, Hanna replied (only partly reproduced here):

The honourable and learned Member will also know that none of his arguments about democratic deficit stand in any way, when his campaign suppressed the Northern Ireland Assembly, the legitimate expression and place of primary lawmaking for Northern Ireland, and when he created an enormous health sea border in the Irish sea. His adventures—his hobby horses—have created a scenario in which one third of the population of Northern Ireland is on a health waiting list.

When Allister resumed the floor, he pointed out that Hanna “did not explain why she thinks it right to disenfranchise her constituents”. Given that the former SDLP party leader John Hume is viewed as the other key architect of the GFA it is understandable that Claire, as the current leader, would wish to sidestep being challenged on such a point of principle.

As with a number of other MPs as well as Hanna, the problem for those trying to deal with the issues of principle raised by Allister in his Bill, is that sometimes such principles are necessarily qualified and compromised for political reasons – as we can see here with the Protocol v2.0 legislation. But it is not in the nature of politicians to admit such things.

The British Government Ministers were not going to stand up and admit that the principle of consent had to be overridden for political expediency or admit that whilst leaving London behind under EU law would not be tolerated – leaving Northern Ireland would be. So, whilst Allister, excellent debater that he is, may well have won the debate as he highlighted the principles impacted by the Protocol, he and Unionism, it was plain to see – had clearly lost the political argument.

The complexity and ambiguity of the GFA settlement, which had allowed Republicans, Nationalists, Unionists and  Loyalists to all claim victory had been the battleground in deciding where the required Irish-British border would go after Brexit. For some Unionists it was Leo Varadkar (Taoiseach at the time ) waving  pictures of a blown up border post which had persuaded the British that the Peace Process was at stake if a hard border appeared on the island of Ireland.

And that maybe so – but without the outstanding Irish diplomacy, including by Leo Varadkar,  in keeping the EU four square behind Ireland – the border would not be in the Irish sea. The horrible reality which Unionists perhaps have not yet fully come to terms with, is that it was the declared will of the British Parliament to put the border in the Irish sea and they were not forced to do so by the nefarious Irish Government or the EU.

They did so even though it meant bypassing the cross community consent which was a cornerstone of the GFA. It was the British Parliament which gave priority to the trade links between Ireland North and South rather than those between Northern Ireland and Britain – whatever Leo rightly or wrongly waved at them. It seems what is best for Britain – is not what is best for the most loyal British subjects in Northern Ireland.

For those in Ireland and Britain who may be quick to dismiss the sense of betrayal and indeed outrage felt by unionists about being treated as foreigners in their own country as a result of  decisions made by their own parliament – the proceedings in the House of Commons on the 6^th December 2024, should be very enlightening  viewing. (Full proceedings here).

For Unionists the battle will go on – but the war seems to be lost – although Allister pointed out that the incoming US President may see the Protocol as an impediment to a British US trade deal – so some hope may remain.  For Allister himself, he will have enhanced his parliamentary reputation considerably and will surely, at some stage, join that other great  Irish parliamentarian and debater, Nigel Dodds, in the House of lords.

As for myself, for the record, as a devout Irish Nationalist and firm supporter of the Protocol v2.0 – I would just like to add that if there is a better Irish Parliamentarian than the boul Jim to be found – I’ll eat my (black) beret.