
© Peter Brookes
During the Queen's Speech, instead of banging on the door of the Commons with his stick, Black Rod will march to Westminster Cathedral and use it to put the windows inIn 2015, every Conservative politician and newspaper screamed "Labour is planning an evil alliance to form a government, by talking to the SCOTTISH NATIONALIST PARTY!!" This would mean Alex Salmond could billet their pandas in our kitchens and they'll drain their lochs onto the M1 so you can only get to Luton by submarine, then we'll be forced to hand over our sunlight so Dundee gets the same amount in winter as Bournemouth.
Now we realise the reason they were so upset is because what you're supposed to do if you can't form a government is make an agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party.
Unlike the SNP, who emit extremist ideas such as scrapping tuition fees and installing a new one-way system in Falkirk, the DUP offer moderate policies, such as strolls through built-up areas, joyfully singing about the day in 1682 when all local Catholics were fed to a tiger.
They've embraced inclusiveness in recent times, reaching out to a diverse group of white Presbyterian fundamentalists. And they've even made efforts to adopt some Catholic values, such as insisting abortion is a sin for which the Lord will exact mighty vengeance, raining down with unimaginable fury upon the heathen filthy dirty vermin who have anything to do with it. They don't even allow you forgiveness for confessing it, which shows how much effort they've made, by managing to be even more crackpot about it than the Vatican.
They're associated with a few quirky attitudes that some Catholics still object to, such as the statement often made by their founder, Ian Paisley, that the Pope is the anti-Christ. But to be fair he only ever said this quietly.
In any case, supporters of the Conservatives insist the influence of the DUP will be minimal. One way they've already changed things is Theresa May often refers now to the "Conservative and Unionist Party", which she rarely did before.
By next week she'll be saying "our team in the Brexit negotiations is strong and stable, especially ya wee man David Davis so he is. And my message to Jeremy Corbyn is 'will ye catch yerself on'."
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From an article in Inspire More: NYC Subway Banned Dogs Unless They Fit In A Bag, So These 15 Owners Got Creative.