The British parliament has voted to force the UK Government to radically liberalise access to abortion and permit same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland if devolution is not restored by October 21.
The landmark legislation passed through its final stage at Westminster yesterday.
The changes were passed as part of measures aimed at keeping Northern Ireland public services running, two and a half years after devolved powersharing collapsed.
In Northern Ireland, the votes were welcomed by the Alliance party and the SDLP, but rejected by the more pro-life Unionists.
Nigel Dodds, the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) leader in Westminster, warned before the votes that they would drive “a coach and horses through the principle of devolution”.
The votes could also affect efforts to revive the executive and assembly at Stormont. While Naomi Long, the Alliance leader, said they could unlock the talks, others speculated that Sinn Féin, which supports social liberalisation, now has an incentive to delay the restoration of devolution to let the amendments take effect.
