Brown to visit North amid policing impasse

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will visit the North on Monday as the deadlock over policing and justice powers deepens.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will visit the North on Monday as the deadlock over policing and justice powers deepens.

The Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, power-sharing partners at Stormont, are at loggerheads over the transfer of responsibilities from London to Belfast.

Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward has warned that US investment could be at risk from the continuing impasse and the American economic envoy has said political stability would be a great help.

Yesterday, Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness expressed frustration with progress on the issue but First Minister Peter Robinson accused him of being nasty and provocative and wants to wait until funding is in place.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due in Northern Ireland on October 12 to meet political leaders.

Senior members of the DUP, including Arlene Foster, a member of the North's powersharing executive, and MPs Nigel Dodds and Gregory Campbell, supported party leader Mr Robinson when he insisted that the time was not right for the switchover.

Mr Dodds said: “It is frankly laughable to see the Secretary of State (Mr Woodward) behaving in this manner. He is opening himself up to public ridicule with puerile comments like this.

“Such tactics will change nothing about our approach towards the devolution of policing and justice powers.”

The DUP deputy leader said companies made their decisions after reflecting on labour costs and office rent.

“The notion that investors will be taking into consideration whether or not we have a Policing and Justice Minister is utterly and completely absurd. I think Shaun Woodward knows as much himself,” he added.

Mr Woodward maintained that the final stage of the devolution process was the “critical last step” which would signal “enduring stability” in the North.

“A move which, in seeking the confidence of the communities of Northern Ireland, also sends a signal of confidence from Northern Ireland to the world,” he said.

“We are in the last part of the journey, the remaining bridge to cross.”

A Northern Ireland Office (NIO) spokeswoman said the minister’s view was based on many conversations with senior opinion-formers in the US.

“As Declan Kelly, the US special envoy, said today, a key element in creating an environment for inward investment is stability and progress in the political institutions,” she added.

With a Westminster election next year and uncertainty over the plans of any new government, further unresolved political wrangling could prompt a real crisis in the devolved institutions.

Mr McGuinness wants a decision on policing and justice by Christmas but the DUP leader is seeking to ensure that sufficient community confidence exists and the funds are put in place to guarantee local policing and the rule of law does not suffer.

Mr Kelly said: “It is fair to say that the US administration is anxious to ensure that there is an environment created for inward investment in the North.

“Clearly, stability and progress in the political institutions is a key element of that.

“It would make our jobs a lot easier if that was the case.”

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