Editorial: Public’s tolerance of ‘woke’ policies does have a limit, and Northern Ireland parties should bear that in mind

Yesterday, Scotland’s creaking nationalist-led administration suffered another blow. The SNP’s power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens collapsed, meaning that Humza Yousaf’s party now forms a minority government.

The SNP’s difficulties show that little is certain in politics. Just a short time ago, nationalists seemed untouchable, and Yousaf’s predecessor as first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, predicted that “independence” from the UK was imminent. Quite suddenly, the polls turned and the SNP was struggling, with Labour predicted to become Scotland’s largest party at the next election.

The collapse of the Scottish coalition shows that there’s a limit to the amount of nationalist populism and self-styled “progressivism” that voters will take. The SNP’s problems started with its extreme stance on “trans” issues. Its fall-out with the Greens was because it was forced to drop unrealistic and economically damaging climate pledges.

In NI’s devolved institutions, it can seem like a mixture of anti-UK sentiment and warped “progressive” notions are inexorably on the rise. Perhaps, though, the backlash against fashionable but damaging ideas is just at an earlier stage.

This week, the Alliance Party advocated a RSE curriculum, which critics fear would push the theory that children can and should be able to switch gender. Its representatives initially implied that opponents of the policy were “far right”, but the MLA, Kate Nicholl, later issued a partial apology that the debate had become so “heated”. She acknowledged that parents just want what is best for their offspring.

The SNP’s problems in Scotland, the fallout from the Cass Report and Leo Varadkar’s departure in the Republic show that there are limits to the “woke” nonsense that the public will accept. Parties in NI should bear that in mind.