There is a "very big budget black hole" in Northern Ireland's finances, the Northern Ireland Secretary has said.
Chris Heaton-Harris was pressed on Sky News about his decision to extend the deadline for calling a fresh election in Northern Ireland until 19 January.
He said: "Forgive me for being a politician that listens to people, but I did.
"At one minute past midnight on October 28, the responsibility of all ministers disappeared in Northern Ireland. There's a very, very big budget black hole in Northern Ireland's finances and all those responsibilities fell to me.
"I have spoken with all the major parties, as well as with businesses, community organisations, and regular people on the street, and no one wants an election.
"I've now done something that provides the time and space for dialogues to occur, so that the executive hopefully can reform and for conversations to occur between the UK government and the European Commission to try to remove one of the main impediments to that," the author said.
The Northern Ireland Secretary stated that the problems brought on by the Northern Ireland Protocol will be resolved by "negotiations" and "with exhibiting trust and respect with the European Commission."
By Mr. Heaton-Harris "The Unionist community's protocol is the main source of concern since it prevents a wide range of products from being sold in Northern Ireland that are available across the rest of Great Britain. It must be resolved."
In response to how he'll accomplish that, Mr. Heaton-Harris said: "by engaging in conversations with the European Commission while demonstrating trust and respect.
"I should clarify that when it (the protocol) was written, I genuinely don't think the authors anticipated the consequences.
Politicians are legislators, and lawmakers are excellent at passing laws, but when the rubber meets the road, occasionally unintended consequences occur.
When questioned about the fact that former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson promised an agreement with the EU that was "oven-ready" during the general election campaign in 2019, Mr. Heaton-Harris responded, "It was an oven-ready deal."
"Everyone felt that this would work, even the European Commission, which co-authored the agreement with the UK Government," the speaker said.
As for the negotiations between the Foreign Secretary and the European Commission regarding the Northern Ireland Protocol, Mr. Heaton-Harris claimed he is not "privy" to all of them.
When asked if a breakthrough might occur before Christmas, Mr. Heaton-Harris responded on BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I'm a glass half-full man. I've spent a fair amount of time in Europe. I am familiar with the people I am speaking with. And by what I did and said yesterday, I gave two things some time and space to occur.
In order for the UK Government and the European Commission to have these crucial discussions, I must first speak with the parties in Northern Ireland and attempt to bring them together.
I'm afraid I'm not the negotiator here. When asked if the UK Government still maintains that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) cannot serve as the final arbiter in any dispute, he responded: James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, is pictured with Maros Sefcovic, his counterpart from Europe.
And I don't completely know what they're talking about or what's happening behind the scenes. However, as you noted, everyone has high expectations for these conversations and dialogues.
Instead of single out the DUP, he said he must reduce the pay of all MLAs on BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.
"Ex-secretaries of state have taken legal opinions in the past that show it would be incredibly difficult and judicially scrutinised if I didn't do it in a fair and proportionate fashion, which is what this is," he said.
"Everyone had been hoping... that we'd have been able to demonstrate to the unionist community and their elected representatives that progress was afoot on the key problem... the Northern Ireland Protocol," he added in support of his decision not to extend deadlines sooner.
Everyone stated they didn't want an election before Christmas, so pardon me for being a politician who listens, he added. "I was talking to all the political parties, I was talking to business representative organisations, I was talking to community groups, and I was talking to people on the street."
'Complete and utter tosh'
After claiming that someone had circulated a false email against him, Mr. Heaton-Harris emphasised that he had not resigned from his position.
Hello Twitter!
Someone has sent a fake e-mail to press outlets saying I’ve resigned.
This is totally untrue. I hope one of @elonmusk first moves is to eliminate fake news on Twitter…
Very exciting I know, but complete and utter tosh.
— Chris Heaton-Harris MP (@chhcalling) November 9, 2022
Yesterday evening, the phoney statement was sent by email to print publications on the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) circulation list.
The Conservative MP termed the email's contents "complete and utter tosh" and urged Elon Musk to banish fake news from Twitter as one of his first acts as the digital company's CEO.
"Hello Twitter," Mr. Heaton-Harris exclaimed. Someone has informed the media that I have quit in a false email.
"This is completely false. Eliminating bogus news on Twitter should be one of @elonmusk's first actions, in my opinion. I know it's thrilling, but it's just nonsense.
