When the new British prime minister visits this place on his obligatory skite round what the BBC calls “the nations and the regions of the UK”, the question the traditionally compliant unionist media here ask is, what difference will he make here?

The answer is very simple: absolutely none. As Sarah Creighton wrote in this paper on Monday, Burnham will tell the NIO “to sort it out and immediately put Stormont out of sight and mind”.

Burnham is concerned first and foremost with the north, but by that he means the north of England; next come Scotland and Wales. This place has no part in Burnham’s strategy. His main objective is to fend off Reform and restore Labour’s electoral fortunes.

He has no votes here. People here don’t vote for British parties. End of. The problem here is different. It’s partition, not Reform’s votes.

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Is Burnham going to reduce VAT here to the lower hospitality VAT rate across the British border in this country? Of course not.

Is he going to reduce corporation tax to compete with the Republic’s tax regime to attract foreign........

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