I fully understand Jim Allister’s concerns about the NI Protocol and Windsor Framework. Indeed, I share some of those concerns.

And while I accept that Northern Ireland has, since 1921, been described as ‘a place apart’ within the United Kingdom – its own parliament, for example – it was, at least, a constitutionally integral part of the UK.

The protocol and framework have changed that status. How could they not, when they have left NI partly within the EU, albeit mostly in the UK.

Fair enough, NI’s constitutional status cannot be changed without majority approval in a border poll; but most unionists do believe that the shift from integral status to granny flat status has undermined previous certainties.

Dear Michelle and Emma. You’ve done the PR. Now when are you going to tackle public services? – Patrick Murphy

Lay me down, in the hallowed ground, where my father waits...

The bigger problem, of course, is that the shift comes with the imprimatur of Parliament. With a whopping majority, too. A series of legal cases taken by a number of unionists, including Jim Allister, David Trimble, Arlene Foster and Kate Hoey, has failed to persuade a succession of judges that the protocol and framework are in breach........

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