Robin Newton: Assembly speaker to face 'no confidence' motion

Robin Newton is a DUP MLA for east Belfast

Sinn Féin has said it is to lodge a motion of no confidence in the assembly speaker Robin Newton.

The party's national chairperson Declan Kearney has called for Mr Newton to resign with immediate effect.

He said Sinn Féin would be lodging the motion on Monday, 16 January.

Mr Newton of the DUP was criticised by MLAs last month for his decision to allow First Minister Arlene Foster to make a statement without the support of the deputy first minister.

Some politicians questioned whether she should have been allowed to deliver such a statement.

Sinn Féin later said Mr Newton's position had become "untenable" as a result of the proceedings on 19 December. He also faced calls to step down as speaker from the UUP and SDLP.

The first and deputy first ministers hold joint office at Stormont.

The DUP and Sinn Féin are partners in the coalition government in Northern Ireland.

Opposition politicians staged a walk-out protest on 19 December when Mrs Foster began to make her statement on the controversial Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme.

Charter NI

They complained that the speaker had undermined the principles of power-sharing by permitting the first minister to make a formal statement to the chamber without the agreement of the deputy first minister.

• Q&A: What is the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme?

• Timeline of Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme

• BBC News NI reports on the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme

Mr Newton wrote to MLAs last month acknowledging what he said were genuine frustrations and concerns over the nature of the proceedings on 19 December.

In response to calls for him to step down, Mr Newton said he would reply in writing to opposition MLAs in January.

Mr Newton, an MLA for east Belfast, was previously the subject of intense scrutiny over his links with the community organisation Charter NI .

In November 2016, he apologised for not declaring his links to Charter NI, when ruling against an urgent debate on its funding.

The previous month, Mr Newton did not declare a link when he rejected an SDLP request for an urgent oral question.

Mr Newton denied being an adviser to the East Belfast community group. However, he said he had offered advice in the past.