New Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris will 'urge party leaders' to form executive

Northern Ireland's new Secretary of State has said he will urge Northern Ireland party leaders to form an executive at Stormont.

Chris Heaton-Harris, who was appointed to the position on Tuesday evening as part of Liz Truss' new cabinet formation, made the comments in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

During his first Northern Ireland Question Time appearance, the Conservative MP for Daventry said in his view "Northern Ireland needs a stable, fully-functioning devolved government to deliver on the issues that matter to people most".

Political stalemate has been continuing at Stormont since the Assembly election in May.

The DUP has refused to nominate a speaker or re-enter the power-sharing executive until its concerns over the Northern Ireland Protocol - a Brexit trade agreement made between the UK and EU - are resolved.

The secretary of state told MPs he would prefer a negotiated settlement with the EU, but that the UK government remained committed to progressing the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill,

Former Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Conservative MP, Theresa Villiers asked Mr Heaton-Harris: "Will he undertake to push that legislation through as quickly as possible and use the Parliament Act to get it through if necessary?"

Mr Heaton-Harris replied: "We are committed to resolving the problems in the protocol, ideally through a negotiation, but, if not, through legislation, so yes."

Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Peter Kyle sought assurances that the UK Government's position on getting Stormont up and running was unchanged, with Mr Heaton-Harris replying: "We're very clear, the protocol negotiation is between the EU and the UK, but yes the position is completely unchanged."

He later told Mr Kyle: "I am very keen we try and negotiate a solution with the European Union and sort out the issues of the protocol. However, we do have legislation ready, we've discussed it in this House and if we do not get a negotiated solution, we will legislate."

DUP MP Sammy Wilson told Mr Heaton-Harris: "I hope he will be successful in doing what is necessary to get Stormont restored, namely removing the poison of the protocol."

Mr Heaton-Harris is expected in Northern Ireland on Thursday for meetings with political leaders.

Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O'Neill tweeted: "I will meet with Chris Heaton-Harris tomorrow and will make it clear that his first priority must be getting an executive up and running.

"Workers, families and small businesses need our help now.

"There can be no more delays."

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