https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn4wkxj4v5ko

English nationalism is now the "biggest threat" to the union, Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Mike Nesbitt has said.

He made the remarks at his party's annual conference – his second in charge since reclaiming the leadership last year.

Nesbitt is also Stormont's health minister in Northern Ireland's devolved government.

Speaking to the party faithful in Belfast, he said he wanted to "deliver hope through prosperity".

Mike Nesbitt wears a black suit, white shirt and black tie. He has short grey hair and clear lensed spectacles. Behind him a cream/yellow wall.
Image source,PA Media
Image caption,
UUP leader Mike Nesbitt made his remarks at his party's annual conference

He dismissed the idea of a border poll taking place anytime soon on a united Ireland.

"While unionists have always looked over their shoulders at Irish nationalists as the biggest threat to Northern Ireland's place in the UK, Irish nationalists have been knocked off the gold medal spot by English nationalism," he said.

He also warned of the impact of English nationalist MPs on the level of funding Northern Ireland receives from Westminster.

"Our annual subvention, some £19bn, is a very significant sum of money. It could build acute hospitals in the constituencies of English nationalist MPs," he said.

The UUP leader added: "That's the real danger of supporting the sort of right-wing parties other unionists currently find so appealing."

As Stormont's health minister, Nesbitt is facing ongoing financial challenges due to constrained budgets, while trying to transform services and ensure pay parity for health care workers.

Analysis: Was this Mike Nesbitt's last conference as leader?
Mike Nesbitt has described being Stormont's health minister as "all-consuming".

So has that left much time for leading the Ulster Unionists?

His return to the top job a year ago may have steadied the ship after some internal party turmoil.

But he has already signalled he might soon step down, telling a podcast over the summer he planned to make a decision in January.

No breaking news on that front today from the former TV anchorman, and as Ron Burgundy might say – that is kind of a big deal.

It meant instead of Nesbitt's speech, much of the talk on the conference fringes was around who might succeed him.

And that is far from clear, with the party having cycled through four leaders in six years.

The theme of this conference was "hope through prosperity".

But with leadership plans in limbo, some party members may well be feeling despair through uncertainty.

Debate over nationalism
In recent months, there has been growing debate about English nationalism, after St George's and union flags began going up across villages, cities and towns.

Groups responsible for putting up the flags have said they are motivated by pride and patriotism.

Others have said it feels provocative at a time when tensions are running high over the issue of immigration.

by Loyal4Ulster

27 comments

  1. The unionists are anti-English now. What a time to be alive.

  2. Mike has always been the most self aware of all the unionist leaders.

  3. Well thats not the most confusing thing ive seen all day

  4. Actually the biggest threats are Islamisation, migrants from Islamic shitholes, left-liberal globalists, woke, DEI, “multiculturalism, progressiveness and tolerance,” Starmer, Labour, Khan and Mahmood.

  6. It was always English Nationalism which was biggest threat to Unionism (in any devolved state)
    The minute the right in England realise what a drain the North is, and how much better our life and towns are over here, its game over for the north.

  7. He’s in bother then. Farage will be UK prime minister after the next general election. They will forcibly leave the ECHR without a 2nd thought of the GFA. Relations with the Irish government will deteriorate and generally zero fucks will be given about anything related to NI.

  8. Listening to Irish unionists arguing with English nationalists about the future of England makes me feel like I have taken 14 grams of acid with Stephen Nolan.

    English people should keep giving us money. No Surrender

  9. Farage…

    The pound-shop patriot with a platinum credit card – has always been the best friend money can buy for every rapacious billionaire and hedge-fund ghoul circling Britain’s carcass. A commodities trader turned common-man cosplay artist, he’s managed to turn the nation’s discontent into his own personal investment vehicle.

    Since he snatched Enoch Powell’s moth-eaten mantle, the man’s isolationist carnival has left the country threadbare. His “take-back-control” circus took away far more than it gave: young people shut out of Europe’s open doors; small businesses throttled by red tape once spun from Brussels but now strangling us from Whitehall; an economy increasingly addicted to nostalgia, not innovation. The ladder that once led from council estate to career has been kicked away, leaving only the rotten rungs for those still clinging on.

    Farage preaches freedom while selling fear – a travelling salesman of decline. His legacy isn’t sovereignty, it’s scarcity; not pride, but petty nationalism wrapped in Union Jack bunting and sold at a markup.

    A slimy loser, yes – but one whose slime has seeped deep into the cracks of a country now too tired to clean it up…

  13. I dont deny that he is right, and he is and always has been a remarkably self aware man. A thinking prod, if you will 😉

    I will say though, he, and his people by proxy are powerless to tackle this threat. English nationalism or Farage-ism or Brexit-ism (whatever you want to call it) is here to stay.

    Once again another case of a major Unionist leader whose whole pitch and plan to *save the wonderful union* is to hope and pray that the bag of money comes in every year from people in England who have nothing got to do with NI. What’s the actual vision and plan here?

    I couldnt care less about this question, Im just a southerner who throws an eye on this forum… but surely even people on this sub-reddit who are unionist in outlook must see the overlying optics of this as pathetic, servile, low-brow shit.

  15. It’s always been the Irish people (and culture), economy and english nationalism as the biggest threats. Once the british government finds it convenient to dump us, they’ll do it in a heartbeat.

    No uup leader will do anything. The moment they attempt anything “lundyish”, they’ll be told to revert to usual or be removed (the UDA told them to step aside in one election).

    “deliver hope through prosperity”.

    What prosperity? The uk economy is falling apart and we’re [literally some of the poorest in Europe](https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/letter-northern-ireland-is-now-one-of-the-poorest-regions-of-europe-MFAFL5HTTZDGLCYANFPSNPF5PI/).

  16. The fact it’s taken this long for it to dawn on Unionism…

    That the Brits might not (Definitely don’t) want them?
    Is baffling.

    I mean were the UUP & co not paying attention during Brexit?
    Even the Tories don’t want them and were happy to loosen the ties

  17. > Nesbitt is also Stormont’s health minister in Northern Ireland’s devolved government.

    >Speaking to the party faithful in Belfast, he said he wanted to “deliver hope through prosperity”.

    >Mike Nesbitt wears a black suit, white shirt and black tie. He has short grey hair and clear lensed spectacles. Behind him a cream/yellow wall.

    I like when the descriptions of images are pasted into articles posted here and it’s as if Dan Brown is writing them.

  18. The biggest threat to unionism (small u), is Unionism (big U).

  19. If, as is looking likely, it’s going to a be a Reform government that will have ‘leaving the ECHR’ near the top of its manifesto, I can see that being the point where England just decides to sever ties.

    Trying to untangle the whole Good Friday Agreement implications of it all won’t be worth it to them. There’s also bound to be some of Farage’s dodgy US backers who are 1/57th Irish or whatever nonsense the Yanks tend to spew. Maybe they’ll put a word in for reunification.

  21. I’ve been telling them from 2015, just before Brexit about this and they’re only starting to take notice now.

    I’ve had a lot of you were right mate lately.

  22. Of course. The prospect of MAGA lite Reform being in power is enough to make people distance themselves from the English. The same people who are voting for Reform are the same people who voted for Brexit and it will be all downhill from there for the UK.

  24. Is it so hard to believe that a country could have differing opinions, a lot of comments saying all English couldn’t care less about Northern Ireland, that’s simply wishful thinking by the majority on here. There’s a larger percentage of people people through out England🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Scotland🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, Wales🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 and Northern Ireland🇬🇧 who fully support the union.

  25. We’re all Paddies to the English Mr. Nesbitt. Don’t flatter yourself.

  27. The English have been growing steadily less enchanted with running an Empire ever since India got independence and suddenly they realised everything they had left was totally unprofitable. Interesting that Nesbitt is getting around to noticing now.

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