{"id":85930,"date":"2017-11-01T11:26:37","date_gmt":"2017-11-01T11:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=9eff7846a592411f3e10962411d9f81c"},"modified":"2017-11-01T11:26:37","modified_gmt":"2017-11-01T11:26:37","slug":"press-release-james-brokenshire-statement-northern-ireland-talks-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=85930","title":{"rendered":"Press release: James Brokenshire statement: Northern Ireland talks update"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile important progress has been made in discussions between the DUP and Sinn Fein towards the establishment of an Executive, it has not yet been possible for the parties to reach agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not therefore in a position to introduce the legislation necessary for an Executive to be formed this week though I must stress we are continuing to work with the parties as they proceed with ongoing talks.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I have outlined previously there are consequences to not being able to bring forward this legislation this week. It is responsibility of the parties to form an Executive to take forward its own Budget, but it is now very unlikely that an Executive will be in place within a timetable to pass a budget by the end of November, which is the point at which we and the Northern Ireland Civil Service assess that Northern Ireland will begin to run out of resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo Government could simply stand by and allow that to happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am, therefore, now taking forward the necessary steps that would enable a Budget Bill to be introduced at Westminster at the appropriate moment in order to protect the delivery of public services in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would expect the Budget Bill to be considered in Parliament after the short November recess, but I will be returning to Westminster to update MPs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSubject of course to Parliamentary approval, the effect of this would be to give the Northern Ireland Civil Service certainty to plan for the rest of this financial year by giving the necessary legal authority to spend to existing plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Budget Bill will deal only with 2017-18 and would incorporate figures provided by the Northern Ireland Civil Service reflecting their assessment of the outgoing priorities of the previous Executive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also want to be clear that passing a Budget in Westminster does not mean a move to direct rule \u2026 any more than the passing of legislation to set a Regional Rate did in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me be clear, this is not a barrier to continued political negotiations and the Government will continue to work with the Parties with that intent.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd indeed, however unlikely, should an Executive be formed speedily enough and a means could be created to provide an exceptional procedure to enable the budget to be passed by the end of November I would be prepared to withdraw the Budget Bill in order for Assembly to legislate for itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will also be seeking independent advice on what steps should be taken to reflect the current circumstances in MLA pay.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government remains steadfast in our commitment to the 1998 Belfast Agreement and its successors and to the institutions that they establish.<\/p>\n

\u201cI therefore urge the parties to resolve their outstanding differences to see the restoration of devolved government quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether with the Irish government, in accordance with the three stranded approach, we will continue to work with them and support them in their efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in the end it is only the parties themselves that can reach that agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt remains firmly in the interests of Northern Ireland to see devolved government restored, to see locally elected politicians making decisions for the people of Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith goodwill and compromise on all sides the parties can still achieve this and it is what needs to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Secretary of State updated the media on the current political situation in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85930"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=85930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85930\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}