An English layman’s thoughts. Firstly the election whilst significant, has been over hyped. First preference votes were 29% and the party did not add to its number of seats. The Unionist vote was split. Perhaps the most significant change was the Alliance party getting 17 seats which is 9 more than last time. However the Unionist parties did get more seats than Sinn Fein, but not enough for a majority. Unionists claim this is enough for them to retain First Minister Post, which to my mind shows little faith in the fragile democracy of NI. Whether Sinn Fein could form a minority government and form a coalition with the SDLP and the Alliance Party remains to be seen. So a difficult situation.
Made much worse by the Westminster Government who are supporting abandonment of the NI Protocol they negotiated with the EU. Having already cost the UK economy around $£250 billion since Brexit the government seems to want to further ostracise ourselves from the rest of the world. I am fairly sure the Biden administration would have something to say too. As to what will happen – it is more difficult than predicting a teenagers mood.
Meanwhile the government is still having tantrums about Starmer and curry. It is not like Starmer is important at the moment, leader of an English Political party which did well I London and Wales, OK in Scotland and not particularly well elsewhere. So the governments obsession must be seen as a diversion from Johnson’s failings (his visit to the Ukraine did not sway the voters as hoped.
The UK seems to be at a tipping point. I believe that most people in Scotland, Wales and N.I. do not want independence, but are fed up with Westminster and its arrogance, so a move towards a more federal state seems inevitable?