When is a pact, not a pact?
The answer is when it's called a "voting strategy". The UUP met the TUV and agreed unionists should transfer to other unionists. They didn't announce an exclusive pact (something Sir Reg Empey, Danny Kennedy and Jim Allister have been at pains to clarify).
The UUP hint that the strategy could encompass the DUP once they have selected a candidate. However they didn't wait for a a Dodds, a Donaldson, a Poots or someone else to be picked before holding their meeting.
Certainly the symbolism of a photo of the UUP and TUV delegations sitting down together jars with all the talk of a shift towards the centre ground and a "new political force" with the Tories.
They say the crucial thing is that 2 unionist MEPs should hold their seats, but come June the crucial question is more likely to be which two unionists?
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