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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Peter Robinson warns assembly could collapse over welfare powers | Peter Robinson warns assembly could collapse over welfare powers |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| First Minister Peter Robinson has warned that the Stormont Assembly could collapse next week if welfare reform is not agreed. | First Minister Peter Robinson has warned that the Stormont Assembly could collapse next week if welfare reform is not agreed. |
| Social Development Minister Mervyn Storey will bring the Welfare Reform Bill back to the assembly next week, alongside a new implementation plan. | |
| Mr Robinson has said if the bill is not passed he will ask the secretary of state to take control of welfare. | Mr Robinson has said if the bill is not passed he will ask the secretary of state to take control of welfare. |
| If she refuses to do so, the devolved institutions are likely to collapse. | If she refuses to do so, the devolved institutions are likely to collapse. |
| Mr Robinson said the welfare reform issue had "run out of road" and was making Stormont's finances unsustainable. | Mr Robinson said the welfare reform issue had "run out of road" and was making Stormont's finances unsustainable. |
| He said the implementation plan being produced by the social development minister could be "tweaked" by the other Stormont parties. | He said the implementation plan being produced by the social development minister could be "tweaked" by the other Stormont parties. |
| However, he added that Sinn Féin's continuing insistence that all current and future claimants should not lose out was "an impossible ask". | However, he added that Sinn Féin's continuing insistence that all current and future claimants should not lose out was "an impossible ask". |
| He said the welfare bill could be debated on Tuesday, and if it fails to pass he would formally ask the secretary of state to take back welfare powers or to legislate. | He said the welfare bill could be debated on Tuesday, and if it fails to pass he would formally ask the secretary of state to take back welfare powers or to legislate. |
| He added that if the assembly was to collapse, Westminster would still have to legislate for welfare reform in Northern Ireland. | He added that if the assembly was to collapse, Westminster would still have to legislate for welfare reform in Northern Ireland. |
| Finance Minister Arlene Foster said she will also produce a budget that would show how each Stormont department would be impacted if welfare reform is not passed. | Finance Minister Arlene Foster said she will also produce a budget that would show how each Stormont department would be impacted if welfare reform is not passed. |
| Mrs Foster has already said failure to agree will open up a £500m hole in the budget as it would prevent the implementation of the Stormont House Agreement. | Mrs Foster has already said failure to agree will open up a £500m hole in the budget as it would prevent the implementation of the Stormont House Agreement. |
| Theresa Villiers, the Northern Ireland secretary, said she would be meeting the parties this week to try to find a solution. | |
| "I've said repeatedly that it's crucial the parties resolve the welfare reform impasse and press ahead with implementing the Stormont House Agreement, which includes putting the executive's finances back on a sustainable footing for the future." | |
| She added: "The consequences of the executive not being able to meet its commitments could put the institutions at risk, which is in no-one's interests." | |
| In the politics of Stormont, the next crisis is just around the corner. Or make that next week. | In the politics of Stormont, the next crisis is just around the corner. Or make that next week. |
| If the DUP carries out the threat to bring the welfare bill back to the assembly then it will surely fall, short of a Sinn Féin about-turn of mammoth proportions. | If the DUP carries out the threat to bring the welfare bill back to the assembly then it will surely fall, short of a Sinn Féin about-turn of mammoth proportions. |
| What the secretary of state will do is less clear. Taking control of welfare, as Peter Robinson wants, is unlikely to be her first choice. | What the secretary of state will do is less clear. Taking control of welfare, as Peter Robinson wants, is unlikely to be her first choice. |
| Her meetings with the party leaders this week could be fraught, And possibly fruitless as well. | Her meetings with the party leaders this week could be fraught, And possibly fruitless as well. |
| This may still drag on and on. | This may still drag on and on. |
| In the short term, the head of the civil service could direct that an emergency budget be drawn up of up to 95% of the real budget. | In the short term, the head of the civil service could direct that an emergency budget be drawn up of up to 95% of the real budget. |
| But that is a sticking plaster. Short of political agreement, of the Stormont House variety or something else, the prospects for Stormont look bleak. | But that is a sticking plaster. Short of political agreement, of the Stormont House variety or something else, the prospects for Stormont look bleak. |