James Brokenshire: Northern Ireland on a ‘glide path’ to direct rule
2 min read
Northern Ireland is on a "glide path" to direct rule unless the province’s major parties reach a deal to restore devolution by the start of next month, James Brokenshire has said.
The Secretary of State said the chances of reaching an agreement between the unionist and nationalist parties were “not positive” after talks stalled last week following initial progress.
The Stormont executive collapsed in January after Sinn Fein withdrew from the power-sharing agreement over issues including a heating scandal and the DUP being unwilling to sign up to an Irish language act.
Mr Brokenshire today set a fresh deadline of 6 November for a new administration to be formed, and laid out the alternatives as being another assembly election or the introduction of primary legislation allowing Westminster to set Northern Ireland’s budget.
He said it would be a “significant and serious step” for UK ministers to allocate a budget, and while it would not in itself lead to direct rule, it could put Northern Ireland on a “glide path to more UK government intervention” and then ultimately full governance from London.
"We are on glide path to greater and greater UK government intervention," he told MPs at the Northern Ireland Affairs committee.
“I am reluctant to move to direct rule because of all of the profound implications that that has for the overall constitutional settlement need to be careful in moving down that route.
“Setting a budget is a significant step along that glide path and in doing that I would argue that the landing gear starts to come down and the lights of the runway start to become very clear in the hinterland ahead and therefore we can’t go on much longer from where we are.
He added that while he did not want to be "prescriptive" as to when Westminster could be forced to take full control given an executive could still be formed "time is marching on" and he would not "pretend otherwise".
The minister added while setting a budget allows the civil service to keep the running of public services ‘ticking over’, it does not allow for projects or programmes need decision makers such as public sector reform can’t go ahead.
“We can’t see this current situation extending for much longer,” he added.
When asked if the current impasse could be found not to have moved a year from now, he responded: “I honestly don’t think it can be in that sort of timescale."
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