“Current legislation requires me to name a date for an election to take place within 12 weeks of 28 October and next week, I will make a statement in Parliament to lay out my next steps.
After a last-ditch attempt to restore the Assembly failed last week the Northern Secretary is legally required to call an election which must take place no later than January 20th.Northern Ireland has been without an Assembly since the last election in May, when the DUP refused to re-enter the North’s powersharing institutions until its demands over the Northern Ireland protocol – which it opposes – are met.
UUP leader Doug Beattie told the BBC: “I think it takes political courage to change your mind when you get something wrong. He got something wrong. The 28th of October was never a deadline. It was always a guideline.”“The bottom line to all of this is we need to get the executive up and running so we can start providing for the people of Northern Ireland,” he said.
“The election wasn’t going to resolve anything. It was going to probably deepen divisions and blow 6 million pounds and eight weeks when we’ve a lot to do.
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