'Chaos continues', says DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson after Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris fails to set election date despite deadline to restore Northern Ireland Assembly passing

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has described the UK government’s approach to a fresh Stormont election as chaotic.

“The chaos continues and we do not yet know whether we are going to have an election in Northern Ireland or not,” he said of the failure of Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris to set a date for an election.The Northern Ireland Secretary insists he will call an election, but against expectations declined to do so on Friday despite a deadline to restore powersharing government at Stormont having elapsed.

Sir Jeffrey continued: “The Northern Ireland Office has been talking up for some time the prospect of an election but evidently no decision has yet been taken.

“And we’re ready to fight an election.

“I will be travelling around all the constituencies as we prepare to fight a campaign to ensure we renew the mandate we have been given, which is very clear, and that is until we get decisive action to restore Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market and remove the rubble and debris of the protocol, we are not in a position and there is not a consensus for the restoration of the devolved institutions.”In a statement, the DUP leader said: “Now no one knows what is happening. Parliament is sovereign and can of course legislate to keep Ministers if it so wishes.

“It is now clear the Secretary of State’s boss, the Prime Minister, has not yet decided how to proceed.”

He continued: “The Government should focus its time and energy on ensuring the Protocol problem is dealt with and Northern Ireland’s place in the U.K. internal market is restored.

“We are ready to fight an immediate election if one is called. An election will not solve the problem which is that until the Protocol is replaced there will not be a sound and solid basis to see a return of devolved government.

“So our message to the Government continues to be that they need to get the Protocol replaced and then we will have the basis for establishing a devolved government that Unionists and Nationalists can support.”

He added: “The Government has undermined its own credibility in recent weeks, instead of focusing on the underlying problem.”