Last week Boris Johnson asked the Queen to prorogue Parliament for five weeks (from the second week of September until 14 October). Although Mr Johnson has claimed that this move is to “bring forward an ambitious new legislative programme,” it’s clearly an attempt to push through his hard Brexit agenda by leaving MPs with only two weeks to create any no-deal legislation before the UK is due to leave the EU.

Although other prime ministers in recent history, such as John Major and Clement Atlee, have prorogued parliament, the period for which parliament is dissolved is generally a few days. Mr Johnson has proposed five weeks. Having a Tory leader who, within weeks of taking on the highest office in the country, has abused parliamentary rules in order to achieve a Brexit that suits his own political agenda, is further evidence, if needed, that allowing our prime minister to be selected by a small minority of mostly white men is not a good idea.

Naturally, almost all the UK’s major parties and even many MPs on Mr Johnson’s own benches are outraged by this decision. Dissatisfied members of the public have been protesting since Thursday, and legal challenges have been filed by MPs in Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as in London.

However, there is one major party which has unsurprisingly come out in support of Mr Johnson’s decision to forgo parliament, in favour of a hard Brexit. Once again, dogmatic loyalty to the concept of the United Kingdom is more important to the party above all else  – even democracy itself.

The DUP have consistently shown themselves to be completely unconcerned with what the people of Northern Ireland want. We’re all too familiar with their commitment to denying bodily autonomy to women and same-sex marriage. In the process of the latter, not too dissimilar to Mr Johnson’s tactics, having abused the Petition of Concern mechanism at Stormont. This disregard for, and conflict with the desires of, the majority of Northern Irish people has been no different to their approach to Brexit.

The DUP was the only major party in Northern Ireland to support the Leave campaign during the 2016 referendum, and they’ve continued their anti-EU rhetoric ever since. Nevermind going against the will of 56% of NI voters who sought to remain within the EU since the vote, the DUP have gone steps further by advocating a no-deal Brexit. And why – to bin the backstop which, if opinion polls are to be believed, has commanded majority support in Northern Ireland?

Having continually discarded the wants of the electorate, and in supporting the side-lining of democratically elected members of parliament without care for the consequences of a no-deal Brexit, where does the DUP’s loyalty really lie?