Total power-sharing was planned for Stormont

NORTHERN Ireland Assembly members would have been asked to vote for the entire power-sharing executive if a deal to revive devolution had been struck, documents released by the British Government claimed yesterday.

According to proposed changes to the power sharing arrangements, Stormont ministers would have been bound by a beefed up ministerial code.

The Assembly would also have had the power to refer back controversial ministerial decisions to the cabinet of Democratic Unionist, Sinn Féin, Ulster Unionist and nationalist SDLP ministers.