As Northern Ireland executive is brought up worth noting since #PMQs started Sinn Fein has pulled out of power sharing negotiations.

— Lewis Goodall (@lewis_goodall) November 1, 2017

Sinn Féin are doing their utmost to miss an open goal. This right now is the moment in history for them to be at their most adaptable. They need to bend over backwards to compromise – even to the point of acquiescence – because it offers them such a strategic advantage.

As the effects of Brexit kick in, Northern Ireland is likely to be badly hit, and the DUP will increasingly appear unreasonable and destructive — not just to those outside NI politics, but to a lot of Unionists too. In 3 or 4 years time it is highly likely that Unionism, as a political force, will be at an all-time low. If Sinn Féin spend that time aggressively adopting the “voice of reason” role, I don’t think it’s beyond the bounds of possibility that they might succeed in holding and winning a border poll (surely their ultimate endgame?)

Brexit makes such a thing possible (even if not hugely likely). But the only way it works (in my opinion) is if Sinn Féin play it right. And that means turning themselves into a party that a reasonable Unionist does not automatically view as The Enemy. They can’t afford to instantly alienate every single non-republican in Ireland if they are to ever achieve their stated aim. Now… I don’t know if that’s even possible; if Sinn Féin can make that change or if Northern Irish society could even permit it to happen.

But that has to be the goal. And it starts with a willingness to compromise.