Murphy set to slap cash sanctions on SF

Northern Ireland secretary Paul Murphy is expected to outline financial sanctions against Sinn Féin during a speech to the House of Commons in London tomorrow.

Mr Murphy is due to present the British government's response to the Independent Monitoring Commission's report into the Northern Bank robbery in Belfast last December.

The IMC has blamed the Provisional IRA for the heist and a number of other robberies in the North in recent months.

It claimed the raids were all sanctioned by the IRA's ruling army council and the Sinn Féin political leadership and recommended financial sanctions against the party.

These sanctions could include a cut in Sinn Féin’s Westminster allowances or an extension of the withdrawal of Assembly allowances imposed after the IMC accused the Provisional IRA of involvement in the attempted abduction of dissident republican Bobby Tohill a year ago.

The Irish Government and the SDLP have expressed their opposition to such sanctions on the grounds that they would allow Sinn Féin to present itself as a victim.