Time for talking is over says Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris... shortly after DUP leader says 'real progress' being made in talks

He said the Government has done “everything we can” in talks with the DUP over the Northern Ireland Protocol, and said it is “time for decisions to be made”.

This comes hours after the DUP said it was making “significant progress” in its talks with the government over the issue, and pledged that talks would continue.

Speaking to the press this evening, NI Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said: “It is time for the talking and debate to finish. It is time for Stormont to get back to work.

If Stormont has not been restored by the Thursday deadline, Mr Heaton-Harris said he will have “various decisions to make”, adding: “I will set out my next steps in due course.”

• Full story – 'Significant progress': Sir Jeffrey Donaldson stresses that talks with government over Windsor Framework / Protocol are yielding 'real' results

Another statement of Mr Heaton-Harris also contradicted the DUP.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson had urged him to use the £500m-plus cash pot which Mr Heaton-Harris had offered before Christmas to give public sector workers a pay rise now and head off further strikes, without waiting for Stormont to reconvene.

But Mr Heaton-Harris insisted that this is a “devolved matter”.

He said as of midnight on Thursday, “I might need to call an election… I have a duty to decide whether an election is called.

“And also, actually, for an executive to be reformed I need a piece of primary legislation.

“So next week, I will be laying primary legislation before the floor of the House, which is an evolution of some of the things I’ve been saying.

“I will need to also, eventually, in the course of the next few weeks, pass a budget for next year, and all of those matters will be taken into consideration at that point.”

Thursday will see the largest public sector strike in Northern Ireland’s history when workers with 15 trade unions will take part in industrial action across health, education and the civil service.