Sinn Féin, which is straining to keep its anti-austerity policies north and south of the border in alignment, warned of an impending crisis that could "engulf the political institutions" of Northern Ireland.
Or is it political, an alignment with Ukip?
The town was the last and largest, and by far the most resolutely modern, of the postwar new towns – though it has some surprisingly romantic features, such as the alignment of Midsummer Boulevard, and the shopping centre itself, with the sunrise on the summer solstice.
In Britain the ongoing revelations of wrongdoing within the Murdoch empire and the public humiliation of a media baron and his son may result in re-alignment in the relationship between politicians and the press, with the former becoming less supplicant to the latter.
The political Treasury and the official Treasury were in alignment.
But a great many Indigenous people disagree with him and believe his close alignment with Abbott is a dramatic, personally risky, strategic error.
Trigg's statement late last week that Malthouse had gone "off message" in airing the club's dirty laundry was followed today by talk of a "values-based approach", "stakeholders", "alignment" and again, "messaging", corporate jargon better left on PowerPoint slides than offered up as excuses to frustrated football fans.
It seemed to me of critical importance that no one was in any doubt of the Treasury's position, by which I mean the political and official Treasury, the fact that there was complete alignment.
"We need better alignment with the way people spend their time," Dr Garnsey said.
But affection and alignment are not the same.On a trip to Berlin ahead of Mrs Merkel's visit, your columnist garnered a sobering sense of what Germany might actually be willing to undertake to save Mr Cameron's rosy face.
Fines are frequently used to fund government budgets; and many a political career has been launched on the back of a high-profile deal, without the need to prove allegations in court.This cosy alignment of incentives worries some.
