Bad as Foster and Dodds are, this is not good news. There is a lot of anger in Loyalist ranks and much of it is focusing on the leader and her deputy who were duped by Johnson and hung out to dry. But any new leadership is likely to be even harder line - with Edwin Poot, the NI Agriculture minister said to be in line. He was the man who halted building work on the new border infrastructure and is clearly not on the same page as the EU or the Irish government.
All this comes as loyalists demand MLAs withdraw from Stormont and shut down the devolved administration again.
There is perhaps a lesson here for other supporters of Johnson by the way. When things turn sour you will find yourself alone facing the repercussions for his crass decision making and lies, he will simply dump you. As the old saying goes, he has friends he hasn't even used yet, although he is fast running out of them.
Lord Moylan, one of the dafter Brexiteers (and that's saying something) tweets a lot about the NI protocol, for which he blames the EU. Somehow, Johnson is seen by many in NI and probably a big majority of unionists as the great betrayer who lied and lied to get Brexit done. Yet Moylan blames the EU:
Punishing the people of Northern Ireland is the EU’s preferred means of trying to keep control of the UK.'Progress' on Northern Ireland Protocol but Von der Leyen warns UK EU will not hesitate to act if Brexit deal breached - https://t.co/SFxT1Y7fTV https://t.co/YsHw7khHgJ— Lord Moylan (@danielmgmoylan) April 27, 2021
If you are interested Ross Atkins at the BBC has a nice 4 minute explainer in the tweet below and he doesn't blame the EU. If you have two separate countries outside the single market there must be a border and if it can't go on land it must go down the Irish sea:
Video 2 of our series looking at Brexit – at what was promised and what’s been delivered. This one is about Northern Ireland. @MichaelCoxJ @MHosseini01 @rhartmann_ https://t.co/RE2HqJoH3U pic.twitter.com/RgmmsKDLH4
— Ros Atkins (@BBCRosAtkins) April 27, 2021
I suspect the NI protocol is going to be thoroughly tested as the marching season starts up. Just another self-inflicted Brexit wound.
Next it seems that Lord Brownlow, who donated £58,000 to the ‘trust’ that was never set up but which went on the cost of refurbishing Johnson’s flat in Downing Street, owns a company called Huntswood CTC Ltd which has benefited from government contracts. Some people are claiming that his company did significant business with the government, around £120 million apparently, albeit in a contract dating back to 2016.
Brownlow is also a director of Sarah Cameron’s company Samantha Cameron Studio Ltd, giving a whole new meaning to all ‘being in it together’.
Oddly, he also apparently contributed £100k to the anti-Brexit Stronger In campaign so I assume more than most he understands just how damaging Brexit will be.
The source of the money to pay for the refurbishment is still a mystery although it could be cleared up very quickly. Peter Lilley once famously said an EU-UK trade deal could be done in ten minutes but it is taking days to answer the simple question about who paid for the expensing furnishings at No 11.
Johnson is coming under serious pressure even from his own side to reveal the truth and I suspect from the length of time it is taking there is a lot we don't know and which is going to prove very embarrassing and awkward for him. The Tory party seem to slowly and belatedly coming to the conclusion they have picked a thoroughly dishonest charlatan who will have to go sooner rather than later.
At noon today he will face a lawyer and former DPP across the despatch box. I look forward to it.