Supremacists are quite happy to respect the outcome of the popular vote — until they lose

Supremacy is the instinct you are higher up in society than others and entitled to treat them as lesser. It is the guiding force of supremacists around the globe, from Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin, from Boris to Jair Bolsonaro.

Being a supremacist necessarily means you must publicly lie. This is because your decisions, by definition, will not be based on democratic ideals or the common good.

A reliable way to spot a supremacist is how they react to the LGBTQ community. The Tories belittle and make fun of them, as it plays well with their base. Last Tuesday at a Tory dinner in London’s Park Plaza Hotel, Boris started his speech with a joke about trans people that got a big laugh.

On Friday, having promised to ban LGBTQ conversion therapy, he U-turned and omitted trans people in the face of a submission from NHS England which warned trans conversion therapy is “unethical and potentially harmful”.

In many red states, US Republicans have introduced (or are doing so) laws discriminating against LGBTQ. Last week, Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed into law the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, blocking classroom discussion about non-heterosexual orientation and gender identity.

Trump joked about gays at a rally last week, saying “you don’t look gay” to an audience member, which got a big cheer.

Putin’s Russia meanwhile is perhaps the most hostile place on earth for LGBTQ folk.

In Northern Ireland, the unionist parties refused to vote for same-sex marriage so, in the end, Westminster brought it in. DUP MP Sammy Wilson has described gay people as “poofs”.

Ian Paisley Jr told Hot Press: “I am pretty repulsed by gay and lesbianism.” Edwin Poots, briefly DUP leader, banned the giving of “gay blood” on the grounds it was “abominable”. Jim Wells, former DUP health minister, said last year he no longer watches Strictly Come Dancing after a gay couple danced on the show.  

The key thing about the North, the thing that allows us to understand everything else, is that none of the unionist parties will commit to taking up the position of deputy first minister if Sinn Féin becomes the largest party in the upcoming election.

We have only ever had a sham democracy. It has limped along because the Catholics (from Seamus Mallon to Michelle O’Neill) have taken the inferior role in accordance with the size of their party’s vote. But now the first real test of democracy is upon us, we see unionism recoiling from the notion of serving under a Taig should Sinn Féin win the elections next month.

Last Thursday night the BBC’s Mark Carruthers pressed Doug Beattie on whether he would serve as deputy first minister if the voters chose a Sinn Féin first minister. He repeatedly refused to say yes. I was extremely disappointed, as Doug has shown signs of being a democrat.

The unionists are supremacists who will respect the vote only if they win. This is a fundamental rejection of democracy and illustrates only contempt for the rest of us. Make no mistake, the manufactured hysteria in the run-up to the election is because unionism fears it will no longer be on top.

In March 2020, after all, Jeffrey Donaldson told the BBC the protocol provided NI with “opportunities to exploit” and that customs checks “do not mean you change the constitutional status of a part of the UK”.

He continued: “Already we are seeing business leaders and the political parties coming together to see how we exploit the opportunities from the protocol” and lauded the fact the North has “full access to the UK market and full access to the EU market”.

But now that their supremacy is threatened, the protocol has suddenly become “an existential threat to the union” and Donaldson is going around loyalist villages on the back of a trailer saying, ‘never, never, never’.

Democracy was good when they won. But when they lose, Ulster Says No, the Good Friday Agreement is “dead”, and more moderate unionists (like Beattie, who has refused to join the protocol protests) are traitors. Windows are smashed, hoax bombs planted and southern politicians are not welcome.

This supremacy is the key to understanding the North. In her weekly column for the Daily Express, Arlene Foster blasted St Patrick’s Day in the White House as being too “green” and poked fun at US president Joe Biden. Next week, presumably, Arlene explains why the Twelfth of July is too orange, the Fourth of July too American and Bastille Day too French.

On Thursday, Ian Paisley Jnr, in an interview with GB News (where Mrs Foster also plies her new trade), said the Tory party “is becoming an English nationalist party” that doesn’t care about Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

If Junior keeps up this standard of analysis, the Wizard of Oz will present him with a diploma. Ian’s interview came the day after GB News presenters poked fun at the released Iranian-British hostage Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe for not thanking the UK government (“She’s been radicalised”, “She’ll be rolling out the prayer mat in the garage” etc).

Supremacy is a toxic and inhumane thing. It is a political philosophy that does not function properly in a co-operative grouping like the European Union.

There are 48 European states and dependencies. Of those, 45 are either full members of the EU, members of the European Free Trade association or are applying to join the EU. Only three are not: Russia, Belarus and, now, the UK.