December election would be diabolical, says BeattieDoug after meeting chhcalling
Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie has described the prospect of an early assembly election this winter as "diabolical".Under current legislation, ministers will be required to stand down on 28 October if an executive has not been restored.Mr Beattie predicted that could result in an election on 8 or 15 December.
"We are in a cost-of-living crisis where people are sitting in their homes hungry and cold and we are asking them for a vote when we have already failed them.
She is also due to meet European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen where she is expected to discuss the Northern Ireland Protocol.Mr Beattie said he felt there would be a "new impetus" in the talks between UK and the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol problems which he hoped would break the deadlock.
The protocol is part of the 2019 Brexit deal and keeps Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods, preventing a hard border with the Republic of Ireland.