Editorial: A later general election means that there is time to legislate for Northern Ireland

Rishi Sunak has ruled out a general election on May 2, to coincide with council elections in England and Wales.

The prime minister told ITV that there would not be an election on that date, amid growing speculation that there might be such.

It is still possible that he will call a ballot later in May or June but it is believed that Tory backbenchers want to delay the contest. A general election is very likely in the autumn, albeit possible as late as January.

It is good news for Northern Ireland if the election is not imminent. Legislation is coming to remove the green lane in the coming weeks, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has told this newspaper. An election on May 2 would have meant parliament dissolved within a fortnight, leaving barely any time for legislation to mitigate the Irish Sea border.

We badly need to see that legislation, as well as other elements of the deal to restore Stormont such as the new InterTrade UK body.

The government has not yet replied to our own queries, made this week, on when it intended to legislate on its promise to have no checks on goods moving in the UK internal market.

Meanwhile, a clear divide within the DUP continues to be visible. Sir Jeffrey is, in America, pitching for the fact that Northern Ireland has access to the UK internal market and the EU single market. He cites the work that InvestNI is doing on the other side of the Atlantic. Six months ago InvestNI correctly said the DUP recognised the benefits of dual market access, although it was not then clear if this was so, given the party’s confused rhetoric on the matter.

But the EU only allows NI such access because of the dominance of EU law over trade here. Lord Dodds, the ex DUP deputy leader, says that no other country has been divided in the way UK has been by the sea border. His position is utterly at odds with Sir Jeffrey’s claim that the frontier is gone.