Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:-
“At last the Secretary of State is moving to cut MLA salaries. Good. About time.
“However, by continuing to duck her responsibility to govern, by planning to legitimise decision-making by civil servants, demonstrates, again, a lack of mettle. It is the appointment of ministers accountable to Parliament that is required, not the poor substitute of empowering unelected civil servants.
“The fact that the Secretary of State is moving to amend the 1998 Northern Ireland Act, to remove the requirement for an election, demonstrates that when it is politically expedient the Act implementing the Belfast Agreement can and will be amended. So, if she really wants devolution that works and lasts, then, let her face the reality that the mandatory coalition prescription in the 1998 Act needs also to be removed. Seeking rather a return to the failure of the present structures is foolhardy.”