In a letter published on September 19 in slightly edited form in The Times (below), Alistair Lexden drew attention to the grave harm done to the Ulster Unionist cause by Ian Paisley whose death on September 12 was followed extraordinary tributes to his work.
Dear Sir,
Oliver Kamm (Notebook, Sept.16) does well to remind us of the chilling impression created by Ian Paisley when he bellowed on behalf of the "Protestant and loyalist people of Ulster". It was his frequent appearances on the British television screen which did more than anything else to give vast numbers of people in Britain the illusion that Ulster Unionists were a horde of religious maniacs and political fanatics,a strange and alien breed for whose welfare a malign fate had made the British responsible. In this way, Paisley did more damage to the Union than any other politician of the day.
Yours faithfully
Lord Lexden
London SW1