DUP armed forces post challenged by Beattie

AN Ulster Unionist MLA has jokingly questioned which army the DUP is supporting after a tweet about its commitment to the armed forces appeared to show foreign troops.

The DUP said it was “valuing our veterans and soldiers” in the graphic, which was shared widely on Facebook. The picture of soldiers’ legs from the knees down in camouflaged combat fatigues has been questioned, with some pointing out it may not be the British Army.

Doug Beattie MLA, an army veteran and Military Cross recipient, asked if anyone could identify the origin of the uniform.

“Which military are the DUP valuing in this picture? I don’t think it’s Belgium. Let’s not take it too seriously,” he tweeted.

The DUP failed to see the funny side. A spokesman said the UUP should be standing with the party on defence issues.

“It’s an illustrative graphic to show that as part of our confidence and supply agreement, we secured a commitment to maintaining the UK’s NATO target of 2% GDP for the defence budget so there is more money to support our armed forces.

“Rather than worrying about the colour of trousers, the UUP would be better to stand with us on our commitments than poking holes in a Facebook post.”

On Facebook, one man accused the DUP of being “so supportive” that they hadn’t used a picture of UK servicemen “and just went with a random stock image”.

Some have suggested the army represented in the picture could be from the Netherlands, Belgium, Sri Lanka or South Africa.