The former senior police officer made the remarks as he addressed his first party conference as leader.
asserted
he → make → leader
He called for the case for the Union to be made “clearly, confidently and in practical terms”, and repeated his challenge to Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill to a head-to-head debate on Northern Ireland’s future.
“This is not about entering the discussion on a ‘New Ireland’, it is about fact-checking myths with cold, hard facts,” he added.
asserted
he → call → facts
He also took a moment to pay tribute to the bravery of the victims of former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson for coming forward.
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He → take → Donaldson
Donaldson, 63, was convicted of 18 sex offences, including one count of rape, relating to the abuse of two women when they were children.
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they → convict → women
The offences were committed between 1985 and 2008.
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offences → commit → 1985
“Jeffrey Donaldson was a vile paedophile, and he was a political fraud,” Mr Burrows said.
asserted
Burrows → say → ?
“I hope he spends a very long time behind bars.
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he → hope → bars
I want to be pay tribute to the victims who had the courage and the resilience to give the evidence that convicted him.
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that → want → him
“I know from my old professional life just how difficult and invasive and traumatic it is to go into a adversarial legal system and put into sworn evidence the most difficult times of your life.
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it → know → life
“Those who did did not just get justice for themselves, I think they have sent a message right across our country, that no matter how powerful you are, no matter what title you hold, you are accountable to the rule of law.”
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you → do → law
He said he has been told that after that conviction and every time there in an update in the case they get more phone calls from victims and survivors who have been inspired by the courage of Donaldson’s victims.
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who → say → victims
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“So I want to say on behalf of the Ulster Unionist Party we will always stand by victims and we want to give our gratitude, our support and our respect to the victims of Jeffrey Donaldson,” he added.
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he → read → Donaldson
Addressing issues he said have harmed unionism, Mr Burrows listed the reduction in the number of MLAs from 108 to 90, disproportionately affecting unionism, as well as “botched Brexit negotiations” and the collapses of Stormont as well as “short-term thinking”.
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Burrows → address → Stormont
Following two significant collapses of powersharing government at Stormont in the last decade, Mr Burrows cautioned against any further.
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Burrows → follow → further
“Stormont is not perfect and it needs fixed, but collapsing it would be one of the most destructive things unionists could do,” he said.
uncertain
he → fix → things
“I’ve heard talk of gift wrapping seats to Sinn Féin, collapsing Stormont could gift wrap the union potentially to Sinn Féin.
uncertain
Stormont → hear → Féin
It would allow them to call us a failed statelet, it would hand all power to London, it would almost certainly give Dublin a greater consultative role.
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it → allow → role
Mr Burrows went on to hail a “growth strategy” for unionism, and made a direct appeal for unionists to “come home to the UUP”.
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unionists → go → UUP
This included a “direct plea to those who lent Alliance their vote”, claiming Alliance is “drifting towards outright nationalism”.
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Alliance → include → nationalism
“They vote with Sinn Féin more often than any other party in Stormont – even the SDLP,” he said.
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he → vote → Stormont
Mr Burrows went on to contend that Alliance has “failed victims and failed farmers” through its Justice Minister Naomi Long and Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir.
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Alliance → go → Minister
“They have failed the basic test of competence, and they hide it behind permanent outrage,” he said, and also claimed their private members’ Bills are “dangerous”.
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Bills → fail → outrage
He said Eóin Tennyson’s Bill aimed at banning gender or sexuality conversion practices in Northern Ireland was “so badly drafted that parents would need a KC at the kitchen table to have decent conversations with a young person about sensitive issues that they face”.
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they → say → that
He said Paula Bradshaw’s flags and emblems Bill was “dangerously naive” and gave risk to those who work for the Department for Infrastructure to do their job safely.
“The leadership of our justice system by Naomi Long has catastrophic, sentencing is too soft, bail is granted too easily, the slow pace puts off victims of sexual and domestic violence,” he said.
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he → say → violence
Police officers, we’re told, are too frightened to protect themselves for fear of being disciplined; prison officers breathe in inmates’ second-hand smoke because we are the only part of the UK where smoking in prisons has not been banned – the rights of the inmate seem to trump the rights of the prison officer.”
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rights → tell → officer
He added: “Is there a farmer in the land who has confidence in Andrew Muir,” to some shouts of “no” from the audience.
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who → add → audience
“I say to those who voted Alliance, if you want to support a party that believes in the whole of Northern Ireland, but that has competence and common sense, come home to the Ulster Unionist Party.”
asserted
that → say → Party
The Aporia
