How can Britain be trusted with Northern Ireland when Karen Bradley doesn't have a clue what's going on?

The Northern Ireland secretary’s admission that she didn’t understand voting patterns in the province when she took the job shows how little regard the British government has for us

Ask anyone in Northern Ireland and they’ll probably agree that most British politicians don’t fully understand our situation. But the admission from Karen Bradley that she knew nothing about the place when first appointed as its secretary of state is particularly jaw dropping.

This woman has been charged with piecing back together a fragile power sharing structure – borne of one of the world’s most complicated conflicts – and yet she freely admits she didn’t understand the politics involved.

Speaking in an interview to The House magazine, Bradley said, “I freely admit that when I started this job, I didn’t understand some of the deep-seated and deep-rooted issues that there are in Northern Ireland.

“I didn’t understand things like when elections are fought for example in Northern Ireland, people who are nationalists don’t vote for unionist parties and vice-versa. So, the parties fight for the election within their own community... That’s a very different world from the world I came from.”

I don’t expect people in Britain to understand everything about Northern Ireland, but when it comes to politics, dogs in the street know that politically, nationalists and unionists are deeply divided.

The sad realisation is that Bradley is not alone in her ignorance and lack of regard for Northern Ireland. It is rife within the Conservative Party, and the government it leads – despite the fact that it is propped up by the DUP.

In fact, by doing this deal in the first place, the Conservatives failed to see that such an alliance would destroy their claim to be a neutral broker in the talks to restore power sharing. Theresa May’s political survival mattered more than our fragile executive.

Then there is pretender to the throne Jacob Rees-Mogg, who has casually suggested that we could go back to Troubles-era border checks to deal with a new border in Ireland, having evidently never had to endure such a lifestyle himself.

When the consequences of the border on the region were realised as a stumbling block, Boris Johnson said the issue was “so small”, and said it was “beyond belief that we’re allowing the tail to wag the dog in this way”.

And just look at the polling that shows a majority of Conservative voters would rather leave the customs union than avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland. We are collateral in their ideological fantasy. They just don’t care.

And Bradley is at the apex of all of this. With no devolved government at present, she is the person with complete responsibility. How can Britain be trusted with Northern Ireland when she doesn’t have a clue what’s going on?

What faith can the people of Northern Ireland have in the UK government that a no-deal Brexit won’t leave us with a hard border down our island, havoc wrecked with our fragile economy and the threat of a return to violence?

In this instance, a new poll has found that 52 per cent of people there would vote for a united Ireland – a referendum that can only be called when Bradley sees a majority in favour. Is she even aware of this?

For now, Northern Ireland should be run by its own people, from Stormont, and our members of the legislative assembly must restore the executive and the assembly immediately.

Bradley has now – quite rightly – cut the salaries of the politicians who have not been sitting for more than 20 months. But it is evidence of her lack of understanding that she thinks this will make the tiniest bit of difference. The issues remain unresolved.

Perhaps she should consider cutting her own salary, for being utterly unqualified for her job.