We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
THE DEFEATED UUP candidate in North Down has told the BBC this evening that people in Northern Ireland “don’t understand” comments he made about owning and insuring a Rolls Royce.
Former SAS officer Tim Collins ruffled some feathers during the campaign when he spoke about owning the luxury vehicle, raising it in the context of what he said was price gouging by insurance companies.
He had said that the insurance he pays on his Rolls Royce in England is the same as what someone would pay for a Ford Fiesta in Northern Ireland.
As he conceded defeated this evening, Collins was asked what had gone wrong for him.
Although he said he didn’t know, he suggested it was because he didn’t live in Northern Ireland and that people in the area vote on local issues, like hedges.
“People in North Down, I think they don’t want somebody that doesn’t live in Northern Ireland,” Collins told BBC News Northern Ireland.
“They want the homegrown boy, they’re interested in local politics, they’re not interested in cutting VAT, they’re not interested in international affairs. They’re interested in potholes and hedges. “
"People in North Down are interested in potholes and hedges" - Col Tim Collins says he believes he is third behind Alex Easton, Independent, and Stephen Farry, Alliance deputy leader, in the race for North Down.https://t.co/yV7E6qGBId pic.twitter.com/vOwH2dODZB
— BBC News NI (@BBCNewsNI) July 4, 2024
Collins said he was “happy” he chose to run and that he had financed the campaign himself.
Asked about the Rolls Royce comments, he defended making them:
They completely misunderstood, it’s Northern Ireland, they don’t understand these things. The point I was making is, an expensive car is cheaper to insure in England than it is here. People are more able to, out of whatever sort of hubris that exists here in Northern Ireland, they leap on that as opposed to saying, hang on, we’re being taken for a ride.
Collins was running in the North Down constituency, which is currently represented by Stephen Farry of the Alliance Party.
The UUP candidate said that it is early days in the count so far but that it looks like Independent unionist candidate Alex Easton could unseat Farry.
Easton himself was asked by the BBC about his chances and said he was “quietly optimistic” about winning North Down on his third time running for the seat.
Northern Ireland is not included in the exit poll which predicts gains for Labour across the UK, with the first results from Northern Ireland expected at about 2am.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
lol. He seems to know exactly the right thing to say to annoy the electorate then blames them for voting the wrong way. Unionists seem to think that if someone used to be in the SAS or parachute regiment they can just parachute them into a constituency and it will do the job. Backwards thinking.
@John Moore: backwards thinking from the unionists….who’d have thought
@John Moore: he’s a right twit and has a superiority complex. The locals weren’t having it.
A bit like P.Flynn and his three houses.
“it’s Northern Ireland, they don’t understand these things”. Well, if he thinks NI voters didn’t understand his comment about insurance, he’s certainly not mincing his words with this one. I can’t see him ever being involved again in NI politics after that.
When you lie you pay a price, karma is not always here but when it is ,it can be tasty
@Robert Halvey:
Why would they need to merge? Reform are only going to get a handful of seats..nowhere near the number farage was exaggerating about…Next election they might get none
@Robert Halvey:
Ahhh! I love Korma.
Did he do a tour of NI as an SAS man????
He is basically calling people in the north dopes. What a donkey.
LMAO talk about being so out of touch it’s not funny. What a plonker.
Unlike him I suspect that the electorate fully understood his comments!
This has to rank up there with the greatest insights into the minds of a certain section within the political classes. Could he be any more withering or patronising about the electorate?! No matter what your politics are I’m sure people who might even agree with some of his views will feel like they dodged a massive bullet this morning!
@SerotoninWars: A unionist paramilitary absent landlord who doesn’t ‘get’ the local population and wants to run for local office? What could possibly go wrong?
@Alan Kennedy: Right! It’s not like we don’t know what their MO and attitude is but this isn’t so much the mask slipping as a full blown screw you peasants from ‘the mainland’. Why won’t the hedge huggers get in line?!
A name like Collins is more akin to being Irish and the Gaelic tribes of Cork, why would they regard themselves as British if only to generate an illusion of superiority amongst themselves
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say