BBC News
By Mark Simpson
image captionA 12ft statue of Sir Edward Carson was unveiled at Stormont in 1933
The course of Irish history changed 100 years ago with the decision of Sir Edward Carson to stand down from the unionist leadership and relinquish the chance to become Northern Ireland s first prime minister.
A century on, his great-grandson believes it was a mixture of personal and political factors which led to Carson s momentous decision, announced on 4 February 1921.
A large statue of Carson was erected at Stormont in spite of his reluctance to lead the new parliament in 1921.
His great-grandson, Toby Carson, points out that the veteran unionist leader was 66 years old at the time.
Last modified on Tue 22 Dec 2020 23.37 EST
Boris Johnson has been accused of cronyism after he gave a peerage to a former Conservative party co-treasurer in defiance of advice from the Lords Appointments Commission.
Peter Cruddas, a businessman, philanthropist and Tory donor, was one of 16 people on a list of newly created political peerages – seven Conservative, five Labour, and four crossbench.
In a highly unusual move, Downing Street published the list alongside an open letter from Johnson to Paul Bew, the chair of the commission, explaining why he was putting Cruddas in the upper house without its approval.
Cruddas resigned as Conservative co-treasurer in 2012 after the Sunday Times claimed he was offering access to the prime minister for up to £250,000. A year later Cruddas won £180,000 in damages in a libel action, although that was subsequently reduced to £50,000 after aspects of the original allegations were upheld when the paper appealed.