London resumes direct rule of Northern Ireland today

Political Editor

Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid will take on two extra Ministers, bringing his team to four. These will share out the 10 Government jobs handled up to now by the fledgling Northern Ireland Government.

Under the terms of the suspension, the Northern Ireland ministers and Assembly members will have their salaries cut by one-third. They will still have the use of their Stormont offices for constituency business, for the time being at least.