UK government needs to get serious with DUP about Stormont return – Eastwood

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said a conversation about constitutional change in Ireland has begun (Brian Lawless/PA)

The UK government needs to “get serious” in its negotiations with the DUP about a return to government at Stormont, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has told MPs.

Giving evidence to a Westminster committee, Mr Eastwood also said that many people in Northern Ireland believe the DUP’s refusal to return to the powersharing institutions is because they do not want a nationalist as first minister.