Bang goes the quiet day
Just when I thought this was going to be the one relatively quiet day in the recent saga, the news broke during Evening Extra that Peter is back as First Minister. Although the police and Assembly Standards Committee inquiries have yet to run their course, he is basing his return on the advice from my former five a side playing barrister Paul Maguire. The full legal advice has not been published but the DUP statement makes it clear it was given "on the material provided", which I take to mean that he hasn't been out re-interviewing the witnesses or the programme makers but has perused whatever was put before him.
As the Spotlight programme based its assertion on a legal opinion regarding the in particular the principle of selflessness, this could end up in a fairly philosophical argument between lawyers.
I'm uncertain what impact the move will have, if any, on Mr Robinson's ability to swing his assembly party behind any deal. But if he does reach an agreement at the end of this week it could, for example, enable him and Martin McGuinness to welcome the two prime ministers to Northern Ireland as First and Deputy First Ministers, thus symbolically endorsing a "Made In Ulster" deal.
I'm 
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