You have got to admire the chutzpah of DUP MP Carla Lockhart.

Talking about her party’s response to Drumcree, she said: “I feel strongly that an issue this serious cannot be resolved through symbolic or token gestures.”

Then she made one: resigning as a party officer over the DUP’s refusal to embrace another token gesture – withdrawing Emma Little-Pengelly as Deputy First Minister, bringing down Michelle O’Neill in the process.

How token can you get?

Time for Carla Lockhart to make her party allegiance clear - The Irish News view

Noel Doran: Unionism remains its own worst enemy

Lockhart claims her “only ambition is to continue serving the people of Upper Bann”, yet she seems to ignore the fact that the much-put-upon residents of Garvaghy Road are her constituents too.

And, while wrapping herself in the mantle of champion of her people, she wishes to deny the First Minister the right to speak up for people too.

Garvaghy residents have the right to expect empathy from their MP and, as an elected representative, Lockhart has a duty to be a voice of calm and reason. But not a bit of it.

If there is a wrong cause to be championed, you can be sure that Lockhart will be there to champion it: Orange Order agitation in Portadown, opposition to........

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