Brown pledges cash for Stormont police deal

Gordon Brown assured the North’s political leaders today that he will stump up the cash needed to bring about the devolution of policing powers to Stormont.

Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said Mr Brown had given him personal assurances that the transfer of law and order responsibilities from Westminster would not fail due to a lack of financial support from the British Treasury.

Mr Brown held talks with Mr McGuinness and Democratic Unionist First Minister Peter Robinson in Belfast throughout the day in a bid to resolve the increasingly bitter wrangle between Sinn Féin and the DUP over the move.

The three leaders will meet again at Downing Street tomorrow – an indication of No 10’s eagerness to secure a deal.

“At the meeting I have just left with Gordon Brown he had made it clear that he wants to ensure that the issue of finance isn’t a blockage to the process moving forward,” Mr McGuinness later told the Assembly.

“So he’s saying he’s not going to fail and we are going to keep him to those commitments.”

The issue of funding has been the main sticking point in progressing a move that is seen as one of the last pieces in the peace process jigsaw.

The DUP has insisted it will not approve devolution until the Treasury tables an appropriate cash package – thought to be in the region of £600m (€653m) – to support the region’s new justice department.

However, while Sinn Féin acknowledges that funding is important, it believes Mr Robinson is using it as an excuse to delay the transfer in the face of resistance from hard-line elements within his ranks.

After the talks with the Mr Brown, Mr McGuinness said as far as he was concerned the issue of finances was no longer a sticking point.

“I’m taking the British Prime Minister at his word, he is saying this process, this negotiation, will not fail on account of the funding issues,” he said.

“Coming away from the meeting today I have to say I think I believe him that this is not going to fall down because the British government don’t recognise the important requirements that we have identified for moving forward.”

But Mr Robinson did not share his counterpart’s view that the law and order budget had been sorted.

He said while progress had been made, there was still work to do to nail down all the money issues.

“What we want to do is to be absolutely sure that all the foreseeable inescapable pressures are dealt with and the unforeseeable ones we have a process where we can be sure that we have access to the (funding) reserve,” he said.

Senior government sources said the talks had been fruitful.

“Good progress has been made,” said one.

“The Prime Minister will meet with the leaders in London tomorrow in another of a series of meetings on finances.”

The talks came on the same day Conservative leader David Cameron appeared to remove another potential obstacle in the way of a deal, when he said would be inclined to honour any financial commitment made by Mr Brown on policing if the Tories won the next election.

Relations between Stormont’s partners in government have becoming increasingly fractious as the impasse over policing has continued.

Mr Robinson today rejected Sinn Féin claims that he was stalling on a deal to appease “angry men” in his ranks.

“I have not seen any angry men in the DUP,” he said.

“I have seen some irritable characters in Sinn Féin.”

He added: “I am prepared and can work with anybody who has the same goals, which are to make the Assembly and Executive work for the benefit of Northern Ireland.

“I was not elected to be a buddy for Martin McGuinness, I was elected to work with him and that is why I am here.”

The tensions were also self evident in the Assembly chamber this afternoon when Mr McGuinness reacted angrily when DUP backbencher Simon Hamilton referred to him as the “the deputy”.

“I am not the deputy,” the clearly irritated republican replied.

“I am the Deputy First Minister in a department where there is equality between the First Minister and myself and don’t you ever forget it!”

Last year, Sinn F éin and the DUP’s failure to agree a way forward on policing and justice plunged the devolved administration into crisis, with the Executive failing to meet for five months.

The deal that eventually broke the deadlock outlined how the transfer of powers would proceed.

Central to that was the agreement between the two leading parties that neither of them would fill the role of Justice Minister until 2012, with a candidate from one of the other parties taking the post on the basis of cross-community support within the assembly.

With the backing of nationalists and unionists essential, the non-affiliated Alliance Party is seen as the likely holder of the portfolio.

Alliance leader David Ford also met with Mr Brown at Stormont. Afterwards he said setting out a policy programme for the new justice ministry was just as important as the budget.

“This was a productive meeting,” he said.

“I believe that Gordon Brown can see the need for the Justice Ministry to be able to get to work the minute justice is devolved. No matter which party the future Minister comes from, they need an agreed policy programme to ensure they can deliver from the first day of their tenure.

“The constructive nature of today’s meetings illustrates the need to continue multi-party talks to ensure progress towards putting the final vital piece of the devolution jigsaw in place.”

During his visit to Belfast, Mr Brown also met with senior figures in the Ulster Unionist party and the SDLP.

He then received a briefing on current threat posed by dissident republicans from the North’s new Chief Constable, Matt Baggott.