There must be no dilution of the constraints on Stormont ministers to be able to engage in solo runs

(The article will be put online later on Friday, link below)

Mr Bullick is barely known among the public, but one of the most influential figures in unionism since 1998. He was a key thinker in the DUP as it rose to become Northern Ireland’s largest political party.

Political pundits assess him to have been both a moderating figure and the sort of details person who understood policy. As someone who operated at a level of politics where it is easy to make enemies, Mr Bullick was seen as affable.

Observers were surprised, therefore, that he did not return as a special advisor when devolution was resurrected in January. It is not as if unionist politics is bursting with talent, having suffered grave setbacks — with disasters including legacy, the Irish Sea border, Irish language laws, the tearing up of the three strands and the fact that nothing has been done to stop one party from doing just as it pleases.

As if things were not bad enough, Mr Bullick sets out in his article why the legislative reform that is being rushed through Stormont removes a key guard against the sort of solo run that let Martin McGuinness abolish the 11+ test.

Sinn Fein is using every chance it gets, including a pandemic, to advance all-island constitutional change. Any dilution of the mechanism by which it must get broad support for any massive governing decision is unacceptable.

The DUP could clear this up by setting out, point by point, why it thinks Mr Bullick’s analysis is wrong. We hope it can.

If it cannot, then the party must retreat on this. There is an elegant way to so, by backing Doug Beattie MLA’s amendment to the bill, which will seem less like a u-turn than a modification.

It will buy more time to think a way forward and will be a useful example of unionists working together to avert crisis.

Any embarrassment will be far less bad than finding in future that a key constraint on arbitrary decisions – essential in a coalition which includes a political that party does not want Northern Ireland to exist – has been inadvertently removed.

Richard Bullick’s full essay: The DUP won key safeguards for unionism, yet seems to be sleepwalking into removing them

——— ———

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Alistair Bushe

Editor