DUP urged to ‘choke down’ its position in refusing to reform government

A Northern Ireland Office minister has urged the DUP to “choke down” its position in refusing to re-enter Stormont powersharing so that an election can be avoided

Steve Baker said another election would be a waste of money that could be better spent elsewhere.

Irish premier Micheal Martin said on Monday that the decision of the DUP not to participate in the Northern Ireland Executive runs “counter to democracy and risks undermining the faith” of people in the potential of politics.

However, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the UK Government could have acted unilaterally over the Northern Ireland Protocol and avoided the potential for an election.

The DUP is refusing to engage with the devolved institutions in Belfast until decisive action is taken to remove the protocol’s economic barriers on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The party’s stance means it has not been possible to form a ministerial executive at Stormont following May’s Assembly election.

A six-month legislative deadline to form an administration expires on Friday. If no executive is in place by that date the Government assumes a legal responsibility to call another election.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has made it clear he will call a fresh poll if the deadline passes, with December 15 the likely date.

Speaking at the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in Co Cavan on Monday, Mr Baker said it was “incumbent” on all of the parties to form an executive as soon as possible.

“We will continue in the short term to press all parties to reform the Northern Ireland Executive,” he added.

He said the Government would continue to strive to reach an agreement with Brussels to make changes to the protocol that are acceptable to all sides.

“We would like the DUP to accept that and reform the Executive in order to avoid an election. We are very clear that we will otherwise call an election and call it to get it done as soon as feasible,” Mr Baker said.

“This government and indeed the next prime minister will maintain the UK’s policy on the protocol. They (DUP) should count on us to negotiate with humility and resolve, recognising everyone’s interests, trying to get a deal that works for us all.

“If the DUP accept that and find it in within themselves to choke down the position they have taken, just get into the Executive and do it this week, we can avoid an election which would waste time and money that could be better spent elsewhere.”

The 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.

On Sunday, Mr Baker told Sky News that devolved government in Stormont will not happen until the “legitimate interest” of unionists to end the jurisdiction of EU law in Northern Ireland takes place.

“We will not have devolved government in Northern Ireland until it’s done,” he said.

“That means we won’t be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.

On Monday, Mr Baker suggested his comments had been misrepresented.

He said the Government was committed to getting an agreement that works for everyone.

“I do want to restate our conviction that the protocol can and should be improved so it better reflects the delicate but crucial balances at the heart of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement,” he said.

“Since some of my comments have been, perhaps, misrepresented, let me be absolutely clear. I want us together to be celebrating the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.”

Mr Martin also attended the Assembly event in Co Cavan.

“There is a genuine risk that people in Northern Ireland will become disengaged from a political process that they do not feel is working for them,” he said.

“Politics has to respond to the legitimate, everyday needs of voters.

“As John Hume often reminded us, you can’t eat a flag; real politics is about the living standards, about social and economic development.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey said: “The UK Government could take unilateral action to remove the (Northern Ireland) protocol, but they have chosen instead to go for negotiation.

“I don’t think the negotiations are going to resolve the issues and remove the protocol before Friday, therefore it is a matter for the Government whether they think having an Assembly election will help move us towards that objective. Personally, I don’t think it will, but it is a matter for the Government.

“If they decide to have an election, we will be there and will take our case to the people and will seek to refresh our mandate for the stance we are taking.”

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said a deal between the UK and EU to resolve outstanding issues with the protocol could be done “very, very quickly”.

She said: “The challenge for the next prime minister is whether or not they are prepared to actually get the business done and to ensure that people who live here are not left endlessly in a limbo, facing into a cost-of-living crisis and with no government to serve them and to protect them. That is completely unacceptable.

“The idea that there would be no executive, the idea that the DUP would keep us in this limbo in these circumstances, is absolutely breathtaking in its scale.”