'Shortchanged' or 'fighting chance': Views differ as NI secretary meets parties on budget

Northern Ireland's two largest political parties have given differing assessments of talks with the secretary of state over Stormont's budget deadlock.

Following an in-person meeting with Sir Chris Bryant, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald accused the government of "attempting to shortchange" people in Northern Ireland.

But Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson described talks with the NI secretary as "uncharacteristically" constructive.

Sir Chris, who has insisted there is no more money available beyond the £1.5bn the government has already offered, has accused executive ministers of being financially "irresponsible".

The executive has maintained it cannot balance its books without more support from London.

The current package would be split into three tranches with £525m available this year, but the Stormont parties said that still falls short of what they require.

Without an agreed budget, public sector workers in Northern Ireland cannot receive long-awaited pay awards that they are entitled to, in line with their counterparts in other parts of the UK.

Last month, Sir Chris made an offer of a financial package worth about £1.5bn over the next three years.

But executive parties said that did not go far enough and they have argued that significant gaps remain before they can agree to a deal that would allow them to set a budget.

On Wednesday, the secretary of state told the House of Commons there had to be "political accountability for finances", and that he wanted to be able to settle the issue with the executive.

The government is due to publish its own budget next week, with Prime Minister Andy Burnham previously saying the executive needed to be "realistic" about what more Westminster could do, given some Whitehall departments are being asked to make in-year cuts.

Speaking after meeting Sir Chris, McDonald said extra funding offered to the Stormont executive "falls well short" of what is needed to deliver public services and staff pay deals.

She said the government "needs to come up with the right resource to ensure that society and communities don't suffer".

"They can't shortchange people who live here. We won't accept, or sign on or tolerate that," she told reporters at Stormont.

McDonald added: "I believe on this point, if on little else, there is agreement right across the executive and the political spectrum here, that the British government is attempting to shortchange the north of Ireland - and that we will collectively face that down."

However, Robinson said their discussions now had a "sense of realism" and provide an opportunity for the executive to have a "fighting chance to balance the books".

"I think it is now clear to the secretary of state that no matter whether this executive passes a budget or indeed he steps in and government pass it on the executive's behalf, the books cannot balance," he said.

The DUP leader said his party and the Northern Ireland secretary remain "in different places", but there was "a good starting point now from where we can attempt to get to a place that would be of a better import for our public and public services".

"I do think there is an opportunity for us to continue engagement and also look toward Wednesday of next week to see whether the gap can be closed sufficiently that would allow the executive a fighting chance to balance the books."

Robinson added that it "wouldn't be realistic to imagine that the gap will be entirely closed" in Stormont's budget pressures.

"But I do think that when we consider the discussions we've had, the money on offer, the ability to reprofile some other monies that rest at the executive's disposal but have constraints around them, and also what will come next week, it'll take us a huge step forward," he added.

He said that he believed that "when the gap is smaller, when it is more manageable and there is realism at the heart of these discussions, then we could progress positively".

Alliance Party deputy leader Eóin Tennyson said the Stormont budget process "cannot remain in a state of suspended animation forever".

"It needs to be brought to a successful resolution swiftly," he told reporters at Stormont ahead of meeting with the secretary of state.

He criticised rival Stormont parties, accusing them of "investing their time and energy into reigniting the divisions of the past rather than focusing on what really should unite us".

"Because whenever the circus leaves town we still have serious jobs to do. We still have public services to run and public servants who need paid," he added.

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) deputy leader Diana Armstrong said they were "focused on achieving a fair funding package for Northern Ireland".

She said that "what we need at this point in time is calm leadership" instead of "the last two weeks of distraction and chaos".

Armstrong added that healthcare workers "should be rewarded for the work they do".

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) assembly member Matthew O'Toole, leader of the official opposition in the Northern Ireland Assembly, said the absence of a budget was having "real-world consequences".

He said that while other parties "indulge in recreational division, they are plunging this place into crisis by refusing to set a budget".

O'Toole urged the four-party executive to agree a budget and for the government to be "reasonable and realistic" in providing a funding package.

"Neither of them can abdicate responsibility," he added.

Robert Murtagh from the FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, said it is "deeply frustrating" that formal negations over civil servant pay have not begun.

Civil service pay is aligned with the budget period, he told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"As far away from the budget we are... we're also away from civil service pay."

Murtagh added that officials and civil servants are "collateral damage" however he welcomed that the finance minister said it is a "day one issue" once a budget is agreed.

He said civil service unions "stand ready" to engage in negations "as soon as possible".

Hospital doctors have announced they will strike next month over the issue, while the Royal College of Nursing is also balloting for industrial action.

At Stormont's finance committee on Wednesday, the Department of Finance's top civil servant Neil Gibson confirmed that it is now too late for any civil service pay settlement before Christmas because of the ongoing lack of a budget.

"We're too late in the year for Christmas for the sector I'm in," he told assembly members.

Sir Chris has suggested the absolute deadline for reaching a deal is January because at that point the money available to departments to spend under emergency arrangements will run out.

Stormont departments are facing a shortfall of up to £1.6bn, according to a spending watchdog.

With no agreed budget, public services have been operating under contingency arrangements allowing departments to spend up to 95% of last year's funding.