DUP's Simon Hamilton attacks Sinn Fein tactics

Simon Hamilton told MPs at Westminster that trust between the two main parties had 'broken down'

A former DUP finance minister has accused Sinn Fein of engaging in a "scorched earth" policy since the collapse of recent talks.

Simon Hamilton also accused the party of "mischief making".

He said it had engaged in "selective leaking" and briefing.

Mr Hamilton, who was on the DUP negotiating team in the talks, said there was now "a distinct lack of trust" between the two parties.

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And he said the prospects for a return to devolution, "certainly this year and maybe beyond", were "bleak."

"Their behaviour in recent days suggests to me they are not serious about getting devolution back," Mr Hamilton told MPs at a session of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee at Westminster.

However Sinn Féin rejected Mr Hamilton's comments accusing the DUP of "checking out" of the devolved institutions.

MLA Conor Murphy said: "This follows their decision to renege on the draft agreement and to crash the talks process in the face of opposition from their own most right-wing, anti-agreement elements."

Mr Murphy called on the London and Dublin governments to urgently convene the British-Irish intergovernmental conference in a bid to start a process to restore the Executive.