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Bullets and bombs fail to faze MP in crucial East Belfast seat Bullets and bombs fail to faze MP in crucial East Belfast seat
(10 days later)
Since her surprise capture of East Belfast in the last general election, Naomi Long has received five death threats, including bullets sent to her office in the post.Since her surprise capture of East Belfast in the last general election, Naomi Long has received five death threats, including bullets sent to her office in the post.
Her constituency HQ has been attacked seven times, including with petrol bombs, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland beefed up security at her home. Her staff have been threatened and assaulted and hardline Ulster loyalists have picketed her surgeries.Her constituency HQ has been attacked seven times, including with petrol bombs, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland beefed up security at her home. Her staff have been threatened and assaulted and hardline Ulster loyalists have picketed her surgeries.
The sole MP for the cross-community Alliance party represents arguably the most dangerous constituency in the UK, after the party’s role in a compromise vote in the bitter row over the union flag flying over the city hall in Belfast.The sole MP for the cross-community Alliance party represents arguably the most dangerous constituency in the UK, after the party’s role in a compromise vote in the bitter row over the union flag flying over the city hall in Belfast.
Long won the seat in 2010 from the Democratic Unionist party’s Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland’s first minister, who had held it for 31 years. She is now facing a strong challenge from the DUP, which hopes to recapture it and strengthen its hand in possible talks on who forms the new government if the election results in a hung parliament.Long won the seat in 2010 from the Democratic Unionist party’s Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland’s first minister, who had held it for 31 years. She is now facing a strong challenge from the DUP, which hopes to recapture it and strengthen its hand in possible talks on who forms the new government if the election results in a hung parliament.
Long and her party have been on the sharp end of loyalist anger after Belfast city council’s decision in December 2012 to change the policy of flying the union flag over City Hall 365 days per year.Long and her party have been on the sharp end of loyalist anger after Belfast city council’s decision in December 2012 to change the policy of flying the union flag over City Hall 365 days per year.
Nationalist councillors wanted the flag taken down permanently, but Alliance councillors forced through a compromise: the union flag would fly over the dome of the city hall for 18 designated days, such as for the Queen’s two birthday celebrations.Nationalist councillors wanted the flag taken down permanently, but Alliance councillors forced through a compromise: the union flag would fly over the dome of the city hall for 18 designated days, such as for the Queen’s two birthday celebrations.
Although Long wasn’t on the council, the decision triggered two and a half years of protests, disorder and intimidation directed mainly at her and the Alliance party.Although Long wasn’t on the council, the decision triggered two and a half years of protests, disorder and intimidation directed mainly at her and the Alliance party.
“For over five months in 2013 there were daily protests outside my office. The police had to come to my door and warn about death threats with recognised paramilitary codewords on them. There have been some very serious incidents and one man has gone to jail in relation to attacks on our office,” she says.“For over five months in 2013 there were daily protests outside my office. The police had to come to my door and warn about death threats with recognised paramilitary codewords on them. There have been some very serious incidents and one man has gone to jail in relation to attacks on our office,” she says.
Inside several drab first-floor offices above an off-licence being used as her HQ in the leafy, prosperous end of the constituency, Long is asked if she is now afraid to enter the poorer, working class redoubts from where the violent loyalist protests sprung. Inside several drab first-floor offices above an off-licence being used as her campaign HQ in the leafy, prosperous end of the constituency, Long is asked if she is now afraid to enter the poorer, working class redoubts from where the violent loyalist protests sprung.
“No, not all. I am not afraid, as I come from the Dee Street area and grew up in a unionist working class area. I am not going to abandon the people I came from. I was elected to represent every part of this constituency and so if I don’t stand up to paramilitary-backed threats and intimidation, who will? Who is going to represent the people who live with the paramilitaries and suffer under them 24/7 if I walk away from their areas? The people deserve a representative who is willing to go to them and stand with them against paramilitarism.”“No, not all. I am not afraid, as I come from the Dee Street area and grew up in a unionist working class area. I am not going to abandon the people I came from. I was elected to represent every part of this constituency and so if I don’t stand up to paramilitary-backed threats and intimidation, who will? Who is going to represent the people who live with the paramilitaries and suffer under them 24/7 if I walk away from their areas? The people deserve a representative who is willing to go to them and stand with them against paramilitarism.”
The principal paramilitary threat to Long and the Alliance has been the East Belfast Battalion of the Ulster Volunteer Force, which is led by a local loyalist known as the Beast, who, in defiance of the organisation’s national leadership, has turned the area into his own private criminal fiefdom. The MP says she has had to deal with constant complaints from constituents about this group demanding protection money from their businesses.The principal paramilitary threat to Long and the Alliance has been the East Belfast Battalion of the Ulster Volunteer Force, which is led by a local loyalist known as the Beast, who, in defiance of the organisation’s national leadership, has turned the area into his own private criminal fiefdom. The MP says she has had to deal with constant complaints from constituents about this group demanding protection money from their businesses.
However, Long claims that even some UVF footsoldiers have privately expressed their regret about taking part in the flag protests directed against her.However, Long claims that even some UVF footsoldiers have privately expressed their regret about taking part in the flag protests directed against her.
“While out canvassing a couple of weeks ago we were approached by a gentleman who stopped one of my colleagues and asked him to pass on an apology to me personally. This man said he had taken part in the flag protests outside my office and admitted that he and others like him had been wound up and then used. He also said I had been made an unfair target and they, the protesters, were abandoned by the mainstream unionist parties who had started it all.”“While out canvassing a couple of weeks ago we were approached by a gentleman who stopped one of my colleagues and asked him to pass on an apology to me personally. This man said he had taken part in the flag protests outside my office and admitted that he and others like him had been wound up and then used. He also said I had been made an unfair target and they, the protesters, were abandoned by the mainstream unionist parties who had started it all.”
Long, 44, was referring to the 40,000 leaflets that were delivered throughout East Belfast in late 2013 blaming her and her party for restricting the flying of the union flag in the city. She says the DUP and the Ulster Unionist party have now accepted that they printed the leaflets and got their local activists to deliver them. Long’s email and personal phone number were printed on the leaflets, which she calls “politically motivated and very inflammatory”.Long, 44, was referring to the 40,000 leaflets that were delivered throughout East Belfast in late 2013 blaming her and her party for restricting the flying of the union flag in the city. She says the DUP and the Ulster Unionist party have now accepted that they printed the leaflets and got their local activists to deliver them. Long’s email and personal phone number were printed on the leaflets, which she calls “politically motivated and very inflammatory”.
Alliance claims the leaflets were part of a carefully orchestrated campaign to turn loyalists and Protestants who had voted for Long in the 2010 election back to the DUP this year. Whatever the reason, Long is facing a strong united unionist front, with the DUP’s Gavin Robinson (no relation to her predecessor Peter) now tipped as the favourite to win this time around.Alliance claims the leaflets were part of a carefully orchestrated campaign to turn loyalists and Protestants who had voted for Long in the 2010 election back to the DUP this year. Whatever the reason, Long is facing a strong united unionist front, with the DUP’s Gavin Robinson (no relation to her predecessor Peter) now tipped as the favourite to win this time around.
Gavin Robinson is a former lord mayor of Belfast with a reputation for reaching out across the sectarian divide. Local pollsters Lucidtalk put him just narrowly ahead of Long. Taking back the seat could help deliver a projected nine seats in the new House of Commons after 7 May and give the largest unionist party unprecedented influence in the formation of the next government.Gavin Robinson is a former lord mayor of Belfast with a reputation for reaching out across the sectarian divide. Local pollsters Lucidtalk put him just narrowly ahead of Long. Taking back the seat could help deliver a projected nine seats in the new House of Commons after 7 May and give the largest unionist party unprecedented influence in the formation of the next government.
Robinson denies that the DUP has used the flag protest as a means of bashing the Alliance MP. “The union flag is not the only reason why people feel disillusioned with their current MP and are uniting to deliver change. Recent claims by the Alliance party, where they claimed to know the mind of unionist voters across the constituency, simply reinforce how out of touch they are,” he says, echoing the party’s mantra that it may hold the balance of power in a hung parliament.Robinson denies that the DUP has used the flag protest as a means of bashing the Alliance MP. “The union flag is not the only reason why people feel disillusioned with their current MP and are uniting to deliver change. Recent claims by the Alliance party, where they claimed to know the mind of unionist voters across the constituency, simply reinforce how out of touch they are,” he says, echoing the party’s mantra that it may hold the balance of power in a hung parliament.
Long is scathing about the pan-unionist pact in her constituency designed to unseat her. “The voters know the union is not at stake in this election and so I think they [the voters] will make more intelligent decisions than some of their unionist political representatives. I speak to a lot of unionists who are angry over this arrogant assumption that a pan-unionist pact means that they just have to vote for the DUP regardless.”Long is scathing about the pan-unionist pact in her constituency designed to unseat her. “The voters know the union is not at stake in this election and so I think they [the voters] will make more intelligent decisions than some of their unionist political representatives. I speak to a lot of unionists who are angry over this arrogant assumption that a pan-unionist pact means that they just have to vote for the DUP regardless.”
• This article was amended on 15 April 2015 to clarify that Naomi Long has not moved her constituency office to the “leafy, prosperous” end of her constituency. She has a temporary campaign office there.