British government ‘extremely reluctant’ to introduce direct rule for Northern Ireland

'Clearly we cannot allow things to go on very much longer with the current arrangements'

Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker urged politicians in the region to return to Stormont. Picture: Gareth Fuller/PA

The British government is “extremely reluctant” to reintroduce direct rule from Westminster for Northern Ireland, the UK's Northern Ireland minister has said.

However, Steve Baker added that a “spectrum of options” are being considered to deal with the lack of governance in the region caused by the collapse of the Stormont powersharing institutions.