ok, professorjon tonge, - unionism at westminster. 0k, professorjon tonge, thank you very much for yourersity. let me just recap for you what is happening and what we have been hearing in the last few minutes, which is that sir jeffrey donaldson has been charged with historical sexual offences and has stepped down with immediate effect as leader of the democratic unionist party, which is northern ireland's largest unionist party. and this is the initial statement we have from the dup on that suspension of sirjeffrey donaldson. we can be that for you. the dup said... that he has been charged with allegations of the historical nature and indicating he is stepping down as leader of the democratic unionist party, with immediate effect. the statement continues, in accordance with the party rules, the party's officers have suspended sirjeffrey donaldson from the membership, pending the outcome of a judicial process. we understand thatjeffrey donaldson and a 57—year—old woman, who has been charged with aiding and abetting in connection with these alleged offences, will appear in court next mon

earlier i spoke to professorjon tonge from the university of liverpool about his reactions to the breakingocking news. the british and irish governments will be shocked as well, becausejeffrey donaldson was someone they eventually came to rely upon. it was known as the donaldson deal, and that wasn't just a piece of alliteration, it was the fact that jeffrey donaldson had sold the deal to return power sharing, to return the dup to the devolved power—sharing institutions. had it not beenjeffrey donaldson selling that deal, that deal might never have been on and we might have been suffering from a lack of power—sharing full stop. jeffrey donaldson was determined, he went on the airwaves, he sold the restoration of power—sharing as a good deal for unionism and as a good deal for northern ireland. it's true, asjulian smith has indicated, that the interim leader, the replacement leader of the dup, gavin robinson is very much on the same political wavelength is jeffrey donaldson, and it's also true that jeffrey donaldson wasn't part of stormont itself, jeffrey donaldson loved westminster. so in