Northern Ireland Secretary to hold talks with Stormont party leaders
Once the deadline passed on Friday, the UK government assumed a legal responsibility to call a fresh election within 12 weeks.
“We’ve been collateral damage from that. And I suppose the irony is the DUP are holding out and preventing us from forming an assembly and an executive on the basis that they will have some influence over the Conservatives, and you can see very clearly with the chaos that’s going on there, that that strategy isn’t working and that the only people that are suffering as a consequence of that strategy are the people that we collectively represent.
“I think that the feeling within the Northern Ireland Office was a threat of an election would change the DUP’s mind – it’s not going to,” he told BBC Radio Ulster. The UK government has vowed to secure changes to the protocol, either by a negotiated compromise with the EU or through proposed domestic legislation, the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which would empower ministers to scrap the arrangements without the approval of Brussels.
“So, I think this is all a bit of a distraction from the real work that actually needs to be done. And that’s where the focus of the Northern Ireland Office should be.” “The duty to call an election is not one I bear lightly, and I will be outlining to the parties that the people of Northern Ireland deserve a strong and accountable government,” he said.
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