Levelling Up fund: Steve Baker says stalled money 'will be spent in NI'

Northern Ireland Office Minister Steve Baker made his comments in the Commons

Levelling Up funding which has not been allocated due to Stormont's collapse "will be spent in Northern Ireland", a UK government minister has said.

But Steve Baker said the government was "very keen indeed" to work with local ministers in a restored executive.

He was speaking in the Commons after Northern Ireland was not awarded any money from the latest £1bn tranche of the Levelling Up Fund.

Mr Baker denied electioneering played a part in the decision.

The Northern Ireland Office minister told MPs: "The money will be spent in Northern Ireland but we are very keen indeed to work with Northern Ireland ministers to this effect."

Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Richard Thomson asked Mr Baker if the move was due to having no Conservative MPs in Northern Ireland who need their "re-election prospects shored up with public cash".

Mr Baker dismissed the remarks as a "cheap political line", adding: "The reality is that Levelling Up money will be spent in Northern Ireland."

Levelling Up is a regional development plan aimed at improving economic performance outside south-east England.

On Monday the Department for Levelling Up announced its latest round of funding allocations, with 55 projects being supported across Great Britain.

It said no money was provided to Northern Ireland "at this time" because of the absence of Stormont's devolved government.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) branded the move "economic blackmail".

It has been blocking a restoration of Northern Ireland's power-sharing institutions in protest against post-Brexit trade barriers between the region and Great Britain.

The party has been in talks with the government to seek further legal assurances of Northern Ireland's place within the UK internal market.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris told MPs discussions are "continuing at pace, but at length".

"I do believe we are moving closer to a decision point but there are still continued discussions to be had and they are continuing at pace, but at length," he said during Northern Ireland Questions in the Commons.

Meanwhile Mr Baker also addressed an incident in which a government social media post about Northern Ireland included an Irish tricolour.

The Instagram post by 10 Downing Street was later edited to remove the flag emoji.

The Irish tricolour is the national flag of the Republic of Ireland and has no official status in Northern Ireland, although it is used by many Irish nationalists.

Mr Baker told MPs: "I feel confident that somewhere there is a junior communications professional lamenting that they accepted the automatically generated flag on that Instagram post, and I don't wish to deepen their embarrassment by going further."

The minister added that he was "proud" to post an image online of his lapel pin, which features the union flag and the Ulster banner.

The Ulster banner was the flag of the former Northern Ireland Parliament - which was abolished in 1973 - and also has no official status in Northern Ireland, although it is used by some sports teams.