All the discussion around the results of the Northern Ireland assembly elections and the conditions placed by the DUP on the establishment of a new executive (Northern Ireland elections: what happens next, 7 May) bring to mind the reasons for the situation we are now in. Back in time, Theresa May decided that, even though the pro-Brexit margin in the referendum had been a narrow one, she was going to pursue a hard Brexit that excluded any involvement in a customs union with the EU.
She was unable to muster support in the Commons, and there were two attempts by MPs to find a solution on which all could agree. Among these were motions advocating participation in a customs union. This concept, which would have avoided the need for the Irish Sea border, was defeated by margins of six and three votes on those two occasions. And it was defeated because the DUP joined the government in opposing it.
