Treasury loan eases Stormont's budget woes

A Stormont budget crisis has been temporarily alleviated after Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionists voted to accept an emergency £100 million loan from the Treasury.

The North’s power-sharing Executive tonight voted by a majority to accept the deal offered by Chancellor George Osborne – a move which enabled the devolved administration to agree a quarterly reallocation of funds and reduced the prospect of a feared breaching of annual spending limits.