DUP says Reid's decision was 'constitutionally outrageous'

A lawyer acting for the DUP has described Northern Secretary John Reid’s decision to delay Assembly elections for 18 months as "constitutionally outrageous".

Dr Reid has accepted that he is under an obligation to call fresh elections because a First Minister was not elected before last Saturday’s deadline, but he has angered the DUP by calling those elections for May 2003, when a new election is due anyway.

The DUP has taken the issue to court in an attempt to force the British Government to call more immediate elections.

Mr Justice Brian Kerr told the DUP that he will decide tomorrow whether to allow a full hearing into Dr Reid’s dubious decision.

In court, the DUP lawyer argued that the Northern Secretary's actions breached the European Convention on Human Rights, which calls for free elections at regular intervals to express the wishes of the people.

The British Government has used several legal loopholes and procedural manoeuvres to avoid calling a new election in the North.