Brexit.

[Eire90]

Does this mean we have to have another election in the spring/summer then another one next winter do we have to have elections every 6 months

[Armagh18]

Does this mean we have to have another election in the spring/summer then another one next winter do we have to have elections every 6 months

depends on how many elections it takes the DUP to be biggest party. If they were ti win this one I think you'd magically find the protocol is a whole lot more palatable to them.

[AustinPowers]

Great craic in stormont. there. Jim "the one seat wonder" even threw a no surrender in. Class

Can't bring myself to follow much of it tbh. Take it we're heading for another election then?

Yep. Jim all-star with a ridiculous speech which has done what it needed to do. The usuals on twitter are all applauding him.

I caught a  bit of his speech and one thing he did say was true.

He said  that any covid/cost of living  payments  that were made (or going to be made) come from Westminster.  And even if Stormont was up  and running  these payments would still come from Westminster.

So , in reality, what jim  was saying is there is no need/use for Stormont.  Honestly  , what is the point of Stormont? There is none

Laws such as  abortion/gay marriage were passed by Westminster.  What have Stormont actually done of note? I'm struggling to  come up with anything

[AustinPowers]

The only thing for sure is that Donaldson has absolutely no control of Unionism. Jim Allister and Jamie Bryson (although he himself is only a front for more sinister elements) are the men in charge now and Donaldson is merely carrying out instructions from extreme Unionism and loyalism. He was never leadership material to begin with but he is even lamer than I imagined and he looks totally clueless. The standard of Unionist politician has never been poorer.

That's because the union  has never been under as much  threat  than it has now

Expect more of the same , and worse, from  unionist leaders going forward

[Eire90]

is there a high chance sinn fein refuses to form a government if the dup win.

[Fear Bun Na Sceilpe]

This is all created by the DUP. All of it.

The GFA needs to be revisited and strengthened because it is far too easy for the DUP to hold the assembly and the institutions hostage.

And SF before them

[seafoid]

Mervyn King the former head of the Bank of England, told the BBC last week that the UK would be getting another dose of austerity, more intense than the previous dose.
This is what centrists got for choosing the tories in 2019.

[Armagh18]

Mervyn King the former head of the Bank of England, told the BBC last week that the UK would be getting another dose of austerity, more intense than the previous dose.
This is what centrists got for choosing the tories in 2019.

Read today that Sunak is planning 10-15% spending cuts across everything.

[Armagh18]

is there a high chance sinn fein refuses to form a government if the dup win.

I wouldn't imagine so.

[Orior]

Wee Jeff getting worried now about joint authority. But wait, didn't Nigel win "negotiator of the year" for his part in Brexit and Snarlene rewarded with a seat in the House of Lords? If only they hadn't licked their lips at the thought of a hard border in Ireland, and thought more about the consequences of their actions.

Heard a comment that if Dublin has a say in how money is spent in the North, then Dublin should contribute to the purse. But hang on, I pay tax so the budget is for me, plus other citizens of the occupied six. If I want a Dubliner (or even a Cork man) to oversee the budget spend then that is my choice. By denying joint authority then westminsiter once again reward the unionists.

[seafoid]

WJ blames the Protocol for inflation. This is bollocks.

[imtommygunn]

Welcome to the bollocks we have had to listen to for years.

The dup are something else. Honestly I think they want people blown up.

[Eire90]

how does joint authority work what about laws and economic stuff and policing

[Armagh18]

WJ blames the Protocol for inflation. This is bollocks.

Boils my blood that idiots who couldn't spell protocol are harping on about it when realistically they haven't the faintest idea what it means.

Would say with absolute certainty that if the DUP had won the election or if they win this one then there will be a rebranding of the current protocol with nothing materially changing in it- except then they could go in to Stormont as top dogs. 

[seafoid]

FT

"Some of the mechanisms of the Good Friday Agreement are as destructive to Northern Ireland's success as they are helpful, because one party can pull down the house of cards," said Niamh Gallagher, a lecturer in British and Irish history at Cambridge university. "That absolutely needs to be abolished."


I wonder how sustainable the DUP strategy is. Tories can and will shaft them.
The BT had an article a few weeks ago suggesting that the Truss govt would do a deal with the EU on the Protocol.
the Hard Brexit is slowly strangling the UK economy. Sir Joff says thhat the Protocol is bad for the local economy which is bollocks.
If the Brits did shaft the DUP it wouldn't hurt NI.