The Northern Irish Assembly: photo, Robert Paul Young.
This week's collapse of the Northern Ireland Assembly has obvious implications for Brexit. Some have even suggested that the need to consult Stormont will delay the start of the Brexit process with the invocation of Article 50. What's more certain is that parliamentary skirmishing of recent months over Brexit is building up to a real battle over Article 50, and Northern Ireland's largest party the DUP will be a key weight in the balance.
Labour has a real chance of constraining the drive towards a hard Brexit if it can find a formula that will bring on board rival forces like the Lib Dems and SNP who are much less inclined to recognise the need for an Article 50 process at all. If the opposition unites, the Conservatives may need the DUP simply to cancel out the votes of the so-called 'new bastards' on the Tory benches. The approach of the Tory whips in the skirmishes of the autumn suggests they fear defeat even with the DUP onside.
