NIO Minister Ben Wallace warns of 'no open cheque book'.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-34518088

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The Stormont talks process will not lead to extra cash for the executive, a Northern Ireland Office minister has warned.

NIO minister Ben Wallace was speaking during a House of Commons debate on the political situation in Northern Ireland.

Ben Wallace told MPs: "There is no more money - there is no open cheque book.

"The options are clear - to implement in full the Stormont House Agreement."

Stormont's political crisis was sparked by allegations Provisional IRA members were involved in the murder of Belfast man Kevin McGuigan.

'Precarious'

Ulster Unionist Danny Kinahan, who called for the Westminster debate, used the occasion to highlight what he saw as the reasons why political relations in Northern Ireland were poor.

He said: "The current impasse, which is nothing more than the outworkings of this mismanagement and the mistrust of the major parties leading the assembly, has placed Northern Ireland in a precarious position, not only economically - as political parties have failed to agree the implementation of welfare reform - but socially ".

The South Antrim UUP MP said: "The continued bickering and public statements of dislike and intolerance further drives a wedge between the sections of nationalist and unionist communities."

Referring to the killing of Kevin McGuigan in August, DUP MP Ian Paisley said the current dispute was not about "bickering" but about "bloodshed on our streets and the murder of an individual".

"We will fight about the minor points, but this House needs to hear about the growth of criminality in Northern Ireland," the North Antrim MP said.

SDLP MP Mark Durkan talked about the "financial crisis in Belfast", and said the pressures placed on the executive had come from London.

He said that by imposing a fine on the bloc grant given to the Northern Ireland Executive because of difficulties over welfare, the Treasury had "created a budget stress on the Stormont assembly".

"The budget stress became a budget crisis, that in turn became a political crisis," he said.

The Foyle MP added: "The Treasury needs to take a different course. If the Treasury wouldn't treat Scotland in this way, they should not be treating Northern Ireland in that way now."

Speaking for the DUP, deputy leader Nigel Dodds said: "We will not sit idly by and let terrorists return us to to the dark days of the Troubles."

The North Belfast MP called on the Conservative administration to get tough with those who advocated paramilitary violence.

"A new mechanism for ridding us at last of the scourge of republicanism and so-called loyalist criminal gangs has to be credible, independent, robust and transparent," he said.

Shadow Northern Ireland Minister Stephen Pound said: "This is not an abstract matter, not a political game, not a constitutional discussion - it is a matter of life and death.

The Labour MP said it was "much more important that we be talking about these problems here and in Northern Ireland than resorting to the alternative".

SNP MP Deidre Brock said "the continued impasse surpasses understanding".

"Politicians should be able to work together even when they don't agree," she said.