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NI Election 2022: DUP criticised for blocking NI Assembly Speaker | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Sir Jeffrey has said promises made in relation to the Northern Ireland Protocol should have been delivered 16 months ago | Sir Jeffrey has said promises made in relation to the Northern Ireland Protocol should have been delivered 16 months ago |
Stormont parties have criticised the DUP's decision not to elect a Speaker to the new Northern Ireland Assembly, meaning it cannot function. | |
The DUP said its actions sent a "clear message" that it was serious in its protest against post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland. | |
Its leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, said it was for the prime minister "to outline what he intends to do". | |
The party's move follows the assembly election on 5 May. | |
The Northern Ireland Protocol, a part of the UK-EU Brexit deal which keeps Northern Ireland aligned with the EU single market for goods, places a trade border in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. | |
The protocol - now under fresh scrutiny following the election - was designed to ensure free trade could continue across the Irish land border, but it has been opposed by unionist politicians. | |
Follow live: MLAs gather to elect Assembly Speaker | |
Last week's vote cemented a majority for assembly members who accept the protocol, including the new largest party, the republican party Sinn Féin. | |
Its vice-president, Michelle O'Neill, who is entitled to be Northern Ireland's next first minister, said the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) had failed on day one of the new assembly. | |
The UK government has said it wants to override parts of the treaty it signed in 2020, but Sir Jeffrey said it would "not be words that determine how we [the DUP] proceed, it will be actions". | |
'Rolling crisis' | |
The DUP, now the second-largest party by seats, said it would not nominate ministers to Stormont's governing executive until its concerns about the protocol were resolved. | |
Its decision to also not elect a Speaker - a move which requires cross community support - means that there can be no debates in the assembly, no committees can be held, and the actions of ministers, currently acting in a caretaker capacity, cannot be scrutinised. | |
"The people and the businesses here want to have confidence and they want to have hope for the future," Ms O'Neill told the chamber. | |
"There is no reason why we should be in a rolling crisis for even one second." | |
Most politicians elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly want the protocol to remain | |
The Northern Ireland Executive cannot meet without a first and deputy first minister as the roles are joint and one cannot exist without the other. | |
The executive collapsed in February when the DUP First Minister Paul Givan resigned in protest over the protocol, meaning the deputy first minister had to leave their post as well. | |
Other ministers who were in office at that time can continue in a caretaker fashion but their powers are limited. | Other ministers who were in office at that time can continue in a caretaker fashion but their powers are limited. |
Mr Givan told MLAs on Friday that his party was respecting its mandate to "remove the Irish Sea border". | |
"Our message is now clear - it is time for action, words will no longer suffice," he said. | |
Mr Givan added that his party had been patient and reasonable in its demands for progress in the UK-EU talks on the protocol. | |
NI Secretary Brandon Lewis said he was disappointed by the DUP's move, tweeting that Northern Ireland deserved a stable and accountable devolved government. | NI Secretary Brandon Lewis said he was disappointed by the DUP's move, tweeting that Northern Ireland deserved a stable and accountable devolved government. |
Great to have MLAs back in Stormont today, but disappointing to see a Speaker has not yet been nominated.The people of Northern Ireland voted and deserve a stable and accountable devolved government. I urge the parties to come together and form an Executive. | Great to have MLAs back in Stormont today, but disappointing to see a Speaker has not yet been nominated.The people of Northern Ireland voted and deserve a stable and accountable devolved government. I urge the parties to come together and form an Executive. |
The election of a new Speaker needs cross-community support from both unionist and nationalist members and would mean assembly business could take place for up to six months, even without a functioning executive. | |
DUP threatens to stop assembly functioning | DUP threatens to stop assembly functioning |
What do voters think of the NI Protocol? | What do voters think of the NI Protocol? |
UK rejects EU plans to deal with NI Protocol | UK rejects EU plans to deal with NI Protocol |
A simple guide to the Brexit border problem | A simple guide to the Brexit border problem |
On Friday, Mike Nesbitt of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and Patsy McGlone of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) were put forward as nominees for the role. | |
DUP move things up a gear | DUP move things up a gear |
Without a Speaker, the Northern Ireland Assembly cannot meet or function. | Without a Speaker, the Northern Ireland Assembly cannot meet or function. |
It basically means, in the words of my colleague BBC Political Correspondent Jayne McCormack, that we have a "silent assembly". | It basically means, in the words of my colleague BBC Political Correspondent Jayne McCormack, that we have a "silent assembly". |
It was one of the few moves left open to the DUP to try and apply pressure. | |
In other words, the party is saying to London and Brussels you can have the protocol or Stormont - but you can't have both. | In other words, the party is saying to London and Brussels you can have the protocol or Stormont - but you can't have both. |
This is a big gamble for the DUP in the hope there will be movement on the protocol to allow the party to return to Stormont. | This is a big gamble for the DUP in the hope there will be movement on the protocol to allow the party to return to Stormont. |
What if there is no change? How long will the party stay away from the assembly and the executive? How will the public react? | What if there is no change? How long will the party stay away from the assembly and the executive? How will the public react? |
What of the fact that a majority of MLAs support the protocol and does this look like the DUP are holding people to ransom? | What of the fact that a majority of MLAs support the protocol and does this look like the DUP are holding people to ransom? |
This is the DUP moving things up a gear. | This is the DUP moving things up a gear. |
Read more here. | Read more here. |
What happens if no Speaker is elected? | What happens if no Speaker is elected? |
Without a Speaker there can be no debates, no committees, nor private member's bills or assembly scrutiny of ministers | Without a Speaker there can be no debates, no committees, nor private member's bills or assembly scrutiny of ministers |
There can also be no election of the first and deputy first ministers | There can also be no election of the first and deputy first ministers |
Current ministers can continue to oversee their departments in a caretaker capacity, however, their powers are limited without being part of an executive | Current ministers can continue to oversee their departments in a caretaker capacity, however, their powers are limited without being part of an executive |
Sir Jeffrey has argued the protocol has eroded the foundations "devolution has been built upon" and undermined Northern Ireland's position in the UK. | Sir Jeffrey has argued the protocol has eroded the foundations "devolution has been built upon" and undermined Northern Ireland's position in the UK. |
He said it would "not be words that determine how we proceed, it will be actions". | He said it would "not be words that determine how we proceed, it will be actions". |
Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin said the EU had been flexible in its approach to the negotiations with the UK government, but this had not been reciprocated. | Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin said the EU had been flexible in its approach to the negotiations with the UK government, but this had not been reciprocated. |
"There are issues that unionism have raised with us in respect of the protocol, but those issues should not prevent the establishment of the assembly," he added. | "There are issues that unionism have raised with us in respect of the protocol, but those issues should not prevent the establishment of the assembly," he added. |
'Thwarted democracy' | |
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said parties who believe in devolution "do not gamble with it". | |
"Many of us in this chamber represent people who did not consent to Brexit in the first place and yet we turned up for work," she said. | |
Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Doug Beattie said without a functioning assembly there would be "silence" as people deal with the cost of living crisis and die on hospital waiting lists. | |
"People will be desperately calling for an ambulance and from this place there will be silence," he said. | |
"Today, we can at least do something - we can elect a Speaker." | |
Matthew O'Toole, of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), accused the DUP of having "thwarted and demeaned" democracy. | |
However, Jim Allister, the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader, said the protocol was causing "pain" and it was not the right time to appoint a Speaker. | |
GOVERNMENT CRISIS: What happens next? | GOVERNMENT CRISIS: What happens next? |
DOMINANCE TO DECLINE: The fall of the UUP and SDLP | DOMINANCE TO DECLINE: The fall of the UUP and SDLP |
HISTORIC MOMENT: From IRA politics to NI's biggest party | HISTORIC MOMENT: From IRA politics to NI's biggest party |
SINN FEIN: What does the party want? | SINN FEIN: What does the party want? |
THE ASSEMBLY: How power-sharing works in Northern Ireland | THE ASSEMBLY: How power-sharing works in Northern Ireland |
RESULTS: The assembly election in maps and charts | RESULTS: The assembly election in maps and charts |