Paisley says DUP will not bow to Hain’s 'financial threats'
27/06/2006 - 08:10:15Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley has said he and his colleagues will not change their policies in response to threats of financial sanctions from the British government.
Dr Paisley was speaking after a leaked Northern Ireland Office document showed that the DUP stands to lose almost £2m (€2.9m) if it fails to agree a power-sharing deal with Sinn Féin by November 24.
The Irish and British governments have set that date as the deadline for reaching agreement on restoring devolution.
They say they will scrap the Northern Assembly if the deadline is not met, meaning all MLAs will lose their salaries and allowances.
The leaked NIO document shows that these are worth almost £2m (€2.9m) to the DUP, but Dr Paisley says it is laughable to suggest this would influence the party's judgement on whether Sinn Féin is fit for government.
He said yesterday that the DUP "would never bow the knee to money to be slaves to the British Government".
<-- BACK TO STORY