Stormont stalemate: Assembly recalled for fifth time

The assembly cannot function unless a Speaker is elected

The Stormont Assembly is set to be recalled for a fifth time on Wednesday in a bid to elect a new Speaker.

Sinn Féin proposed a motion to bring it back to debate the cost-of-living crisis. It was also backed by the SDLP and Alliance.

Thirty signatures were required for it to be successful.

The last failed recall was in October, ahead of a deadline to restore power-sharing.

The Sinn Féin motion calls on the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to end its boycott of the assembly and reform an executive.

The assembly has previously been recalled four times since May's election but on each occasion, the DUP has refused to support a new Speaker being chosen.

No other business can take place until a Speaker is elected.

Alex Maskey is the outgoing Speaker of the assembly

The DUP has said it will not vote for a Speaker until the Northern Ireland Protocol is significantly changed.

The party has protested against the protocol, a part of the UK-EU Brexit deal which keeps Northern Ireland aligned with some EU trade rules.

This was designed to ensure goods could move freely across the Irish land border, from the UK into an EU member state, the Republic of Ireland.

However, in turn, the protocol imposed some new checks on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile, a bill to give the Northern Ireland secretary powers to cut MLA salaries is being fast-tracked through the House of Lords.

It has already been passed by MPs and is currently being debated by peers.

The bill also extends the time period for parties to return to power-sharing government at Stormont.

If the DUP refuses to end its boycott of the Stormont institutions by 8 December, the bill will give Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris the option to either:

• Call an election - which would be for some point between mid-January and the beginning of March, or

• Extend the deadline by six weeks to 19 January

If nothing changes by that extended deadline, an election could take place by 13 April.

The legislation will also clarify the "limited decision-making" powers that civil servants now have in the absence of ministers.

Extra provisions are also being made to allow a regional rate to be set, should an executive not be in place, as well as powers for the approval of some public appointments.