The aftermath of a week of race riots was the worst possible time to try raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Northern Ireland. That age stands at 10, the same as in England and Wales and the lowest in Europe.

Alliance has spent four years planning to raise the age to 14 via an executive Justice Bill. The plan fell apart on Monday when all three unionist parties blocked it via the assembly’s cross-community veto mechanism, the petition of concern. Unionists cited the young age of the previous week’s rioters as proof the proposal was “dangerous”, “beyond stupid” and a matter of “profound public safety”, to quote Gavin Robinson, the DUP leader.

Sinn Féin walked out of the chamber when it was announced a petition had been raised, while Alliance, the SDLP and People Before Profit raged against its use. They all considered it an abuse of a safeguard intended to protect minorities. The Belfast Agreement created the petition “to ensure key decisions are taken on a cross-community basis”. However, it made no attempt to define such decisions. A petition can be raised by 30 assembly members for almost any reason. The matter then has to be approved by majorities of unionists and nationalists. Non-aligned parties do not count, adding insult to injury when an Alliance proposal has been blocked.

The DUP, which introduced........

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