The government could introduce primary legislation to postpone the new election, but Ms Truss defended the bill as a way to get the DUP back into Stormont. He could try to persuade them to return to power-sharing by triggering Article 16 of the Protocol, which does not implement parts of the treaty, but that would also anger Brussels. Failure to meet the deadline for a new executive would extend the Stormont deadlock and bring a second election within nine months of the vote in May. No executive has been fully operational since February, when Paul Givan, the DUP’s first minister, resigned over the treaty. The impasse has prevented the payment of cost of living support in Northern Ireland and action to reduce NHS waiting lists, which are the worst in the UK.
