Stormont election by Christmas if executive not restored - Heaton-Harris

The Northern Ireland secretary has revealed he will call an election if the Stormont Executive is not restored by 00:01 on 28 October.

Chris Heaton-Harris told MPs on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee he had informed his cabinet colleagues of the decision on Tuesday morning.

"I cannot be clearer - that is what will happen on 28 October," he said.

Pushed on whether the election would fall on 8 or 15 December, he said it would be a relatively short campaign.

But he did not give an exact date.

He said he doubted if there was even time in the Parliamentary timetable to bring emergency legislation to extend the current law even if he wanted to.

"I know that lots of people really do not see or do not want that to happen but it is a legislative requirement," he told the committee.

Mr Heaton-Harris said the best solution "without a shadow of a doubt" would be to see an Executive reformed.

BBC News NI political correspondent Gareth Gordon said the chief electoral officer, Virginia McVea, had written to the political parties to say that should a poll be called, it would likely be held on 15 December.

"It's very, very close to Christmas Day, clearly. Contingency plans have been made, it's not as if it's a surprise," he said.

"It certainly seems like we are on the launch pad for an assembly election.

"Health warning - he [Chris Heaton-Harris} could still change his mind. U-turns, particularly with this government, are not unknown."

'Charm, beguile, coax'

The last assembly election took place in May and saw Sinn Féin returned as the largest party for the first time and entitled to the role of first minister.

But the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the second largest party, has refused to allow the formation of a new executive because of its objection to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

• Is another Stormont election a certainty?

• NI Protocol row 'will not be solved by poll deadline'

The protocol keeps Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods, avoiding the need for a hard border with the Irish Republic after Brexit.

What is the Northern Ireland Protocol?

The protocol, part of the UK government's Brexit deal to leave the European Union, keeps Northern Ireland aligned with the EU's single market to ensure free trade can continue across the Irish land border.

However, unionist politicians have protested against the protocol for resulting in additional checks being placed on some goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

In June, while Liz Truss held the position of foreign secretary, she introduced legislation in Parliament that sought to give UK ministers powers to unilaterally scrap large parts of the deal.

However, in July, the EU announced legal action against the UK government over the legislation just days after it cleared the House of Commons.

It said overriding parts of the deal would break international law.

• What is the Northern Ireland Protocol?

• Northern Ireland Protocol Bill passes Commons

The DUP has blocked the functioning of Northern Ireland's legislative assembly and governing executive because it believes the protocol undermines Northern Ireland's position within the UK.

The party's Edwin Poots, Stormont's agriculture minister, said the impasse which has been created could lead to the "funeral of the Good Friday Agreement".

A fresh election is opposed by the Irish government, while the parties in Northern Ireland have expressed doubts whether it would achieve anything.

Mr Heaton-Harris said an executive would help in the delivery of cost-of-living measures.

"Lots of things would be a lot easier if the executive were running, which have real world outcomes for real people in Northern Ireland," he said.

"So my focus is trying to charm, beguile, coax everybody into that place that they come back into the executive and I'd like to think I will be successful.

"But if I'm not, then I'm afraid it is that election."