UUP leader Jon Burrows can now claim – just about – to have the support of a majority of his party’s assembly members.

There are eight UUP MLAs, including Burrows, and excluding former leader Doug Beattie, who has resigned the whip.

Mr Burrows persuaded three to join him in signing a DUP petition of concern against raising the age of criminal responsibility.

This was a clear test of his authority, as it reversed a long-standing UUP principle restricting use of the petition to “constitutional” issues.

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UUP MLA Steve Aiken, another former leader, could not sign due to his role as deputy speaker.

However, he has indicated support for Mr Burrows elsewhere, so he could be added to the total, making five out of eight.

The three who signed were deputy leader Diana Armstrong, Mr Burrows’ most loyal lieutenant; Alan Chambers, who is facing deselection by his North Down constituency association; and liberal former deputy leader Robbie Butler, whose signature was considered a surprise.

Signatures may be less about support than self-preservation in some cases, but in politics that can effectively be the same thing.

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There will be wider repercussions from Monday’s petition of concern, which all non-unionist parties have denounced as an abuse of a mechanism intended to protect minorities.

This was the first time all three unionist parties have signed a petition on a ‘non-constitutional’ issue.

It was only the second time all three have signed any petition – the first was last December, against EU observer status for Northern Ireland. The TUV had never signed a petition before that date.

The DUP has lacked the numbers to raise a petition on its own since 2017. A rule change in 2022 means more than one party’s signatures are required.

With all three unionist parties on board, Stormont could return to the pre-2017 days when the DUP deployed the petition at will.

As with Brexit, this is an argument about the letter of the Good Friday Agreement........

© The Irish News