Northern Ireland Assembly to be recalled in Speaker election bid

The Northern Ireland Assembly is to be recalled on Tuesday in a bid to elect a new Speaker.

It will be the third time assembly members have been recalled to Stormont since the election in May.

The assembly has not been sitting full time because the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has refused to vote for a Speaker.

The party is refusing to re-enter power-sharing as part of its protest over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Without a Speaker the assembly cannot function, but a Speaker can only be elected with support from a majority of unionist and nationalist members and this is not possible without the DUP.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said his party would not be supporting the election of a new speaker.

He said his party wanted to see more progress on the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill in Parliament first, and will also assess how the new prime minister will view the legislation and any negotiations with the EU.

Conservative MP Simon Hoare, who chairs Westminster's Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, tweeted that Sir Jeffrey had committed to returning to Stormont if the bill passed through the House of Commons unamended and that he should now honour that commitment.

Meanwhile, the the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Shailesh Vara has pledged to do all he could to restore the institutions without the need for a fresh election in the autumn.

The SDLP secured support from Sinn Féin and Alliance to hold the recall petition next week.

The outgoing Speaker Alex Maskey confirmed details in a letter to all assembly members on Thursday.

The SDLP said it was putting forward the recall debate to "test the DUP on its integrity and commitment" to power-sharing.

"People and families across Northern Ireland are experiencing the most severe cost of living crisis in living memory," SDLP assembly member for Belfast South, Matthew O'Toole said.

"At a time when working households are facing a real emergency, there is no justification for those continuing to hold our democratic institutions to ransom for their own cheap political games.

"That's why the SDLP is recalling politicians from the summer recess to address the real challenges facing our communities."

The DUP previously said it wanted to see "clear progress" on the government's controversial protocol bill in Parliament first, before it would consider supporting the election of a speaker.

The bill passed the House of Commons on Wednesday but now must be debated in the House of Lords.

The protocol is part of the 2019 Brexit deal and keeps Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods, preventing a hard border with the Republic of Ireland.

But it means checks on some items which come into Northern Ireland from other parts of the UK, creating a trade border in the Irish Sea.

Unionist parties in Northern Ireland are all opposed to the protocol, and insist the legislation is necessary to protect NI's place in the UK.

The DUP's refusal to re-enter power sharing also means a new Northern Ireland Executive has not been formed.

This means ministers who were appointed before the election remain in place, but they do not have full powers to take major decisions or make new policy.

An election must be called within six months of an election if an executive is not formed.

Mr Vara said he wanted to avoid that outcome.

"I want to work with all the political parties to make sure that we can move forward, but if tough decisions have to be taken then you will find that this secretary of state is not afraid to take them," he said.