NI politicians react angrily to Hain’s salary threat

Senior politicians in the North have reacted angrily to the British government's latest threat to stop paying salaries to members of the suspended Assembly.

MLAs still receive £32,000 (€47,000) in pay and expenses every year, despite the fact that the Assembly has not been operating since October 2002.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain said at the weekend that he wanted to see progress on restoring the devolved institutions before the summer or he would halt these salaries and expenses.

"They have been elected to do a job which they will not take responsibility for," he said.

Alliance Party leader David Ford said it was blatantly untrue that MLAs were refusing to do their jobs, while SDLP leader Mark Durkan said the British government should come up with concrete proposals rather than threats.

The DUP's Ian Paisley Jnr, meanwhile, said his party would not be browbeaten into sharing power with Sinn Féin, while UUP leader Reg Empey said the British government itself - and not MLAs - were to blame for the current stalemate.