Interview. The Brexit negotiation – Dodds warns against the “annexation” of Northern Ireland

The DUP’s Westminster Leader says the Irish border issue is being exploited by people who want “to thwart leaving the EU if they can”.

Henry Hill: May vows not to imperil the Union with post-Brexit devolution

Also: Bradley talks up pay cut for MLAs; Williamson to protect troops from SNP tax hike; Foster attacks Varadkar for overstepping in talks; and more.

The Belfast Agreement is the best agreement we’ve got

For all its compromises and ambiguities, it is the only practicable means to hand of giving the province something approaching normalcy.

Henry Hill: Stormont talks collapse as Foster joins calls for direct rule

Also: SNP’s deputy leadership contest reveals splits over Europe and ‘Indyref2’; and Jones demands ‘soft border’ between Irish and Welsh ports post-Brexit.

Henry Hill: Welsh Tories demand that Jones gives investigators his personal emails

Also: Bradley admits that she is obliged to call an Ulster election (but won’t say when); Tories attack SNP’s ‘double-dip’ tax hike; and more.

Henry Hill: Talk of direct rule as top civil servant redeploys to Northern Ireland

Also: May wades into Scottish flag row; Liberal Democrat accused of costing taxpayers thousands to prop up Jones; and DUP dismiss legal threat to £1 billion deal.

Peter Franklin: Ruling political tribes 2) The Conservatives. Gove is now in a position to emerge as kingmaker – or, just maybe, as King.

But unless his fully-developed vision of the future can capture heart-and-minds, I’d expect control of the party to stay with the mainstream.

Henry Hill: Foster calls for direct rule in Northern Ireland after meeting with Bradley

Also: Scottish Tories row in behind bid to wreck the Withdrawal Bill; infighting in Welsh Labour over method of electing new leader; and more.

Brexit has busted the myth of the fragile Union

As 2017 draws to a close, the United Kingdom is in better shape than many of its supporters had dared to hope.

Henry Hill: Davies attacks the Welsh political class for anti-Brexit groupthink

Also: Cairns criticised over future of Swansea tidal lagoon; SNP squeeze private schools as teacher crisis deepends; and Foster ‘was not fully warned’ about RHI risks.

Iain Dale: Playing truth or dare with Jacqui Smith

Plus: May’s EU trials, Labour’s EU shifts – and how Russia got there before Trump by recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Well, part of it.

WATCH: Foster – “Northern Ireland must leave the EU on the same terms as the rest of the United Kingdom”

The DUP leader rejects “any form of regulatory divergence which separates Northern Ireland economically or politically from the rest of the UK”.

Owen Polley: The Government’s plan does not consign Northern Ireland to the Customs Union

Of course Ulster’s trade with the mainland must be protected as top priority, but a degree of flexibility on regulations in a small number of sectors is sensible.

Profile: Arlene Foster, standing firm for Britain in Belfast

The DUP leader has not yet shown she knows how to make the strange machinery set up in Stormont work.

Graham Gudgin: Brussels and Dublin should stop playing games with the Irish border issue

A sensible solution is achievable, but unnecessary brinksmanship and over-the-top rhetoric helps nobody.