Theresa May: 'Karen Bradley doing an excellent job'

The Prime Minister said that every effort is being made to restore devolution in Northern Ireland

The Prime Minister has defended her choice of Karen Bradley as Secretary of State.

Her comments come after Mrs Bradley admitted she was unaware of some basic facts on Northern Ireland politics before taking up her appointment.

Theresa May insisted that her close friend and ally has been doing "an excellent job".

She also said that every effort is being made to restore devolution in Northern Ireland.

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'Disappointed there is no Executive'

In an interview on the eve of the Conservative conference for BBC Northern Ireland, Theresa May said "what matters is the job that Karen has been doing".

"Of course I am disappointed that we still don't have the Executive up and running and the assembly running as it should be. But every effort is being made to do this," said Mrs May.

"Karen is also obviously taking on board the need to ensure decisions will be able to be made by the civil service in NI while there is no executive in place."

The Prime Minister's vote of confidence came as Mrs Bradley gave a speech to the Northern Ireland Bureau in Washington DC calling on politicians to restore power sharing. She also stated that there is "huge potential" for Northern Ireland.

Earlier this month, the Secretary of State told the Westminster House Magazine that she hadn't understood some of the" deep-seated and deep-rooted issues that there are in Northern Ireland", including how rare it is for unionist voters to back nationalist parties and vice versa.

The border

On Brexit, Mrs May repeated her promise to put forward new proposals on the so-called Irish backstop - an insurance policy intended to avoid a hard border - "very shortly".

She again defended her much-criticised Chequers proposal, arguing that it offered the potential to ensure frictionless trade across the border.

"I have said to [the EU] if they have concerns with this issue of the border arrangements and the free trade area let's hear in details what those concerns are and if they have counter proposals let's hear those counter proposals," said Mrs May.

Possible power cuts

After BBC Northern Ireland revealed that government officials are warning about the possibility of power cuts should Brexit disrupt the Single Electricity market within Ireland, Mrs May said she recognised the importance of the electricity sector.

The Prime Minister argued that this sentiment is shared widely in Ireland and across the EU and work is under way to ensure the present arrangements for electricity supply are able to continue after the UK leaves the EU.

Questioned about whether the Conservatives' parliamentary pact with the DUP has constrained their room for manoeuvre in the Brexit talks, Mrs May insisted that she is trying to deliver "a proposal that works for the whole of the UK".