Ian Paisley Jr claims the Conservatives have become an English Nationalist Party

The Democratic Unionist MP, Ian Paisley Jr, has this lunchtime accused the Conservative Party of becoming an “English Nationalist Party”.

Speaking to GB News, Iain Paisley Jr, said, “The Conservatives call themselves the Conservative and Unionist Party, but I believe that the Conservative Party today is becoming more and more an English nationalist party that doesn’t really understand what’s going on in Scotland, certainly in Northern Ireland, and in other regions”.

Continuing, Ian Paisley said, “We’re not little Englanders, trying to be little Englanders. We’re proud Northern Ireland people who have an identity of their own and you’ve got to understand it and govern on that basis.”

The DUP previously entered into an agreement with Theresa May in the aftermath of the 2017 General Election, but Mr Paisley nonetheless commented, “Anytime we’ve had a Labour prime minister or a Labour secretary of state, they’ve understood Northern Ireland, usually better”.

Casting doubt on whether he trusted Boris Johnson, Mr Paisley said, “We’ve always kind of had the fear, will Labour take us in a particular direction closer to a united Ireland. But their bark about that and their actual bite has been very, very different.”

Mr Paisley’s comments come ahead of elections for the Northern Ireland Assembly on 5 May.  The DUP is currently struggling the polls, with Sinn Fein currently on course to win the Assembly elections for the first time.  The DUP faces a strong battle within the Unionist Community with support for the TUV and UUP both having grown in recent years.