GAVIN Robinson – he’s the charisma-free DUP leader, in case you don’t know – took Reform’s Robert Jenrick for a walk on the Shankill last week.

They weren’t exactly mobbed, but that’s another story.

What is this unionist fixation with fawning on extremist English politicians?

You’d think Robinson would have been ashamed to be seen with Jenrick.

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You might remember that as immigration minister in 2023, Jenrick had cartoons of Mickey Mouse and Baloo from The Jungle Book painted over at a reception centre in Kent for unaccompanied child asylum seekers.

Jenrick thought they were too welcoming and sent the wrong message.

The refugee charity Care4Calais asked: “What will they replace Mickey with in order to inflict more fear on traumatised asylum-seeking children – Maleficent? Maybe even Cruella herself?

“The real villains in this sorry tale are Robert Jenrick and the rest of this heartless bunch that call themselves ministers.”

Jenrick apologised, but much too late.

He first came to infamy in 2020 when, as housing minister, he approved a £1 billion housing development in Tower Hamlets one day before community charges on developments increased.

He overruled his government inspector’s decision and in doing so saved Tory donor and former Daily Express owner Richard Desmond £40 million.

When Tower Hamlets went to the High Court demanding disclosure of texts and emails between Jenrick and Desmond, Jenrick overturned his own decision, accepting it was “unlawful by reason of apparent bias” – but not accepting there was actual bias. Hmm.

Recently he’s been in the news for being booted out of the Conservative Party before he got to resign.

His planned resignation speech seems to have been left on a photocopier.

Kemi Badenoch was delighted to be rid of him, for he’d been stabbing her in the back ever since he lost to her in the party leadership contest.

Described by colleagues as “insanely ambitious”, Badenoch said his defection was “never about principle, it was about ambition”.

She added that Jenrick was not her problem any more but “Farage’s problem now”.

He’s been moving steadily to the right since the 2024 election because he believes that’s where the votes are.

Last August he said any protestors shouting “Allahu Akbar” should be immediately arrested.

After a visit to Handsworth in Birmingham, Jenrick claimed he “didn’t see another white face” and it was not “the kind of country I want to live in”.

Local MPs said he was talking divisive rubbish.

Now, ask yourself, why did Gavin Robinson invite a guy like this to Belfast?

Was it maybe to upstage the TUV who had invited Reform’s Danny Kruger, another Conservative defector, to speak at their tiny conference at the weekend?

More ominously, was it because Robinson approves of Jenrick’s politics on immigration, or his aim to leave the ECHR?

Robinson can hardly claim he doesn’t approve because, after all, he chose Jenrick as the person he wanted to be seen with.

As for Jenrick, he spent his time fending off questions about Farage’s remark that there will be a united Ireland.

“I can assure you that’s not what he believes,” Jenrick said repeatedly. But he said it, repeated interviewers.

Robinson insisted he would “paddle his own canoe”, but didn’t try to distance himself from Jenrick’s or Reform’s views.

So, why bring Jenrick? The answer is the DUP is in pathetic competition with the TUV for Reform support because they think Reform has a chance of forming the next British government.

It remains eternally beyond the grasp of unionist politicians that no party in England (and it’s England we’re talking about) gives a damn about this place.

Vying for the support of Reform is the latest in a long line of futile attempts to latch on to a right-wing party – and it’s always right-wing – which will look favourably on the unionist position.

Enoch Powell, expelled from the Conservative Party in 1974 for opposing joining the EEC, was once the great hope. He could do nothing to stop Thatcher.

Need we go on over all the others up to Johnson? No, thought not.

However, back to the original point. Do we really need the DUP leader to present someone like Jenrick as a politician to look up to, to parade in Belfast as an example to emulate? Are politics here not divisive enough?

Of course there’s another way to look at it.

Farage and Reform are on the slide.

Oh yes, they’ll do well in May, but they’re down from 31% last August to 26%, and Farage’s approval rating is down from -29 in August to -37 last month.

Robinson was a bit rash choosing Jenrick.

As Reform slides, what MP from any other party would want to be caught dead with Robinson? Wrong bet.

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