Tell it not abroad, but at the moment if writing , the DUP have points which have not been properly addressed.
The idea that a revived Assembly could approve the proposed deal by simple majority- that is, by leaving out either the DUP or Sinn Fein- is absurd. They would simply adopt the fall back the EU are recommending for Sinn Fein to follow against a DUP veto, that is, withdrawal from the Assembly. As if the threat of such would terrify them into compliance.
No, if we persist in prescribing for a non-sitting Assembly, wholehearted consent rather than the mutual veto is the only answer- but to what?
As Churchill said about democracy, this is the worst possible deal – until you look at all the alternatives, bar one .
The DUP are in fact demonstrating why Brexit under almost any terms is a hopeless backward looking offer.
Sympathy with them would be in order if they had not hitched their waggon to Leave and the Tory right.
Just think if they had supported Remain in the manifest interests of Northern Ireland, how they could have presented themselves as the most effective supporters of the Union around – indeed as the party that gave definition to what creative support for the Union entails.
And on top of that, to be the best of neighbours as well.
The logic of their position now is to support a second referendum and Remain, as Nigel Dodds once said in an unguarded moment when he opposed May 3.
They won’t do that of course. They’ll hold out until they find a crack higher up the wall in which to park their bike.
Same sex marriage and abortion look like passing Westminster and bypassing the Assembly in defiance of all the principles of devolution . You won’t hear the noisier advocates of devolution power in Edinburgh having a word to say at this cross contravention of those same principles.
Perhaps a delicious paradox is emerging.
By holding out in the last ditch against the deal “everybody” wants, the DUP may turn out to be the defenders of the Union after all by giving new heart and second wind to the cause of Remain in a second referendum.
Brexit may have reached a high point today, never to return.
Ok I’m not convinced, but there’s a glimmer of a chance there.
Former BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London
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