Tories distancing themselves from unionists?

The Guardian Ros Taylor has some intriguing thoughts about the comments by David Lidington which I mentioned yesterday.

Could David Cameron’s Conservatives be gently trying to distance themselves from the Unionists? Only one UUP MP was elected last May, leaving the uncompromising and decidedly un-modern Mr Paisley the effective leader of the Unionist movement. After all, despite their historical links, the Tories have no seats in Northern Ireland to lose. (Their Northern Ireland site has been undergoing reconstruction for some time.) One thing is for sure: this is one Gordian knot that will take a very long time and a colossal effort to slice through. (Guardian Newsblog)