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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Brendan Hughes

Tory minister Steve Baker joins Fermanagh leaders in 'get on with it' message for Stormont parties

Northern Ireland Office minister Steve Baker took to Twitter with society leaders to deliver a "get on with it" message to political parties on restoring Stormont.

Mr Baker posted a video of a meeting in Fermanagh with community leaders who he said had been telling him about the problems they faced.

The Conservative MP then recorded the leaders calling "get on with it" when he asked them what their message was to politicians about returning to power-sharing.

Read more: December Northern Ireland Assembly election to cost £6.5m

Stormont has been in limbo for months with the DUP blocking the re-establishment of a devolved Executive and Assembly in protest over Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol.

The party has said it will not restore Stormont until decisive action is taken to remove the protocol's economic barriers on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

If no new Executive is in place by Friday, the UK Government assumes a legal responsibility to call a snap Assembly election, with December 15 the likely date.

Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris, who was reappointed in new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Cabinet reshuffle, has repeatedly insisted he will call a fresh poll if the deadline is breached.

In a video posted on Twitter, Mr Baker spoke as he held the camera while walking through a corridor and into a room where people were seated behind him.

The minister said: "I'm at Fermanagh House where I've been meeting civil society leaders and they have been telling me about some of the problems that they face.

"Now the reality is all these good people, all these good ladies and gentlemen behind me, all have got a very similar problem.

"They need to make progress. They need to know where the money's coming from.

"All of these ladies and gentlemen have got problems with hundreds of people needing support, in some cases they've got large numbers of staff who need their pay.

"And I think they've got a message, a very simple and coherent message, for all of the local political parties when it comes to re-forming the Executive and governing Northern Ireland."

He then asked the room, "What is it?" and the people behind him then turn to the camera saying, "Get on with it."

DUP MP Sammy Wilson said Mr Baker "is in no place to preach to the DUP or any other party".

"The only thing consistent about his position is his inconsistency," he added.

"He would be better doing his job and sort out the protocol problem his party created and he voted for. We will then be able to have stable devolution.”

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