“Which means, I presume, that both Sadiq Khan and Kezia Dugdale approve of the SDLP’s aspiration…”

George Kerevan offers us one of the more extreme possible outcomes, ie that Sinn Fein will overtake the DUP giving Michelle O’Neill the job of First Minister, but he also makes this rather elegant blow against UK Labour for its disciplining two NI members for daring to run in Northern Ireland:

…the sharp-eyed among you will have noticed that there are no Labour Party candidates standing in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections. Indeed, Labour has just expelled two of its activists for trying to run on Thursday. Strange considering that Labour’s London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, came all the way to Perth to lecture us that we are “better” for being a United Kingdom and that “there’s no difference between those who try to divide us on the basis of whether we’re English or Scottish and those who try to divide us on the base of our background, race or religion”.

Labour is happy to accuse the SNP of dividing the UK yet has always tacitly supported Irish unity. In fact, the official Labour Party Irish Society is currently tweeting support for SDLP candidates in Thursday’s election. Which means, I presume, that both Sadiq Khan and Kezia Dugdale approve of the SDLP’s “aspiration to share political union with the rest of the [Irish] island”, as stated in its election manifesto. Or is Labour just being hypocritical towards Scotland, as usual?

Mick Fealty

Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty