Sam Smyth It will take a giant leap of political faith for David Cameron's canapé nibbling Conservatives to sit alongside the meat-and-two-veg Ulster Unionists. Awkward knots of Sir Reg Empey's backwoodsmen are just as suspicious of silver-tongued Tories as they are wary of backslapping buckos from Dublin. But if the talks succeed this autumn, UUP MPs will take the Tory whip in Westminster and be invited to serve as ministers in future Conservative governments. It could also mean that the Conservatives will field candidates in Northern Ireland at the next election -- if the UUP drop its name in a future merger. A pact linking the go-ahead Tories with the steadfast UUP also offers more to Northern Ireland than a Conservative deal with the die-hard DUP. Although the UUP has only one MP in Westminster and the DUP nine, the...
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