Reading this article about Northern Ireland and Brexit the other day, something leapt out at me. It was the allegation that an EU official suggested someone should say this to the #DUP:
"Listen you guys, you’ve got nowhere else to go anyway, so this is what’s going to happen."
That phrase hit me hard. Now, with the added information provided by the release of WhatsApp messages between Matt Hancock, the UK's health minister during the pandemic, and other politicians and officials, it seems even more striking.
My first thought when reading what the EU official said was this:
"That's not just what one EU official wants to tell the DUP; that's precisely what almost all politicians of almost all major parties want to tell their electorates these days."
And therein, I guess, lies the appeal of the likes (if such a thing exists) of Donald Trump.
