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‘I would say there’s no need for any checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland,’ says the former First Minister.
Successive Secretaries of State have preferred to bribe the local parties back to the table than to govern. This must change.
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Poots has purged Foster’s old team and nominated an ex-spad as First Minister. These do not suggest confidence.
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Unlike the former Ulster Unionist leader, the new DUP one is set to stick with his voter and party base. But you never know.
The Nationalists themselves are doing everything they can to minimise their central policy. All the materials for denying their mandate are there.
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A united front against the sea border might be their best chance – regardless of the headaches it causes in Dublin, Brussels, or London.
Political leadership is needed in Belfast no less than in London – in some respects, even more so.
If he cannot or will not convince them that its guarantees of their British status are real and meaningful, its days are numbered.
If strict East-West checks and North-South checks are problematic, the only solution left standing is to minimise the former by rewriting the Protocol.
His extension of grace periods only makes sense as part of a strategy aimed at securing meaningful concessions to assuage unionist concerns.