February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The new slogan, on which the party will presumably fight the upcoming election, is “Simply British.” Party leader David Trimble said it summed up the party’s ethos.
The slogan, unfortunately, echoes one adopted by the Ulster Defense Association some years ago — “Simply the Best.” (It was roundly condemned by the singer Tina Turner herself as a parody of the love song specially written for her.)
To compound matters, the first poster to accompany the new slogan carried a photograph of a fish-and-chip supper wrapped in an old newspaper.
To a group of journalists gathered on a bitterly cold afternoon at Stormont to witness the poster’s unveiling, Trimble explained (for explanation was badly required) that this was Britain’s favorite dinner.
As a cultural icon, it doesn’t really rate beside the Book of Kells.
And that wasn’t all. Gone is the term “Ulster Unionist Party,” to be replaced by just “Ulster Unionists.” Hardly earth shattering.
It wasn’t long before the DUP began nibbling at the bait. The Rev. Ian Paisley predicted the Ulster Unionists would get a “battering” at the polls, while others wondered if the UUP were “codding” the people of Ulster and whether it was a party that had “had its chips.”
No doubt, all this was a bid to adopt a more working-class image. Less fur coat and more donkey jacket. But the press corps at Stormont were left wondering how much moolah the party had paid to come up with something so fishy and where might they apply.