True blue Reg

BILLED as a momentous occasion, Ulster Unionist supremo Sir Reg Empey mounted the steps in Manchester to address the Conservative Party conference about why his party’s alliance with Conservatives is good for the Union.

Coining new phrases – such as pan-UK Unionism – and speaking with unusual passion - Sir Reg managed to stir some of the Tory faithful in the hall.

But his speech on the Union was a wee bit undermined by the fact that it concluded the session on ‘Great Britain’. Memo to conference organisers…it’s called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.