His expertise and long experience will be useful if the Government does go ahead with triggering Article 16.
Formerly an adviser to six secretaries of state for Northern Ireland, his idea involves no changes to the law – and a certificate system.
That Johnson’s recent visit was reported as though he were a Governor-General of Imperial India touring the North-West frontier is a bad sign.
It’s deeply disturbing for many that a modern European democracy might shortly be led by a party that continues to have its strategy overseen by an Army Council.
Grasping this nettle will involve appointing someone prepared to be considerably less popular with sections of the gallery than was their predecessor.
Lord Caine has projected a plan that would allow proceedings into suspected Troubles-related offences only if certificates are issued by senior legal figures.
The first in a mini-series on Strenghtening the Union in the wake of Johnson’s Brexit deal.
He must not repeat May’s mistake of using it as a holding pen for loyal colleagues. From combating terrorism to countering nationalist spin, the role is crucial.
Remainers cannot both plead Commons supremacy over Brexit and deny it over the Withdrawal Agreement.
We need a new strategic partnership with Ireland. At the moment, that end seems endlessly remote.
The significance of the Northern Ireland SpAd’s tweet lies less in its content than its author – and that it has been issued at all.
As a member of his first Cabinet, I was tested in Northern Ireland – as elsewhere the new government reduced the defict and reformed public services.